The Shattered Moon
by InvertedEternity
Summary: Eight and a half years have passed since the defeat and imprisonment of Cinder and her associates, and a time of peace in Vale. But Cinder always knew her partner would come for her. That they would then finish what they started. As the frequency of Grimm attacks rises sharply, the huntresses that comprised team RWBY are brought together again to investigate the threat.
1. Prologue - From Ashes

**Prologue - From Ashes**

The flames rose higher into the night sky, the smoke thickening. Screams rent the air as people scrambled and fled. The Grimm tore through the village with single minded purpose, killing everyone in sight and leveling the structures. A man stood on the outskirts, a safe distance away, watching impassively. He was about average in height, with short cropped black hair, dark brown eyes and largely unremarkable features. Though he was human, he dressed in the uniform of the White Fang sans the mask. A pair of young hunters fought desperately to stabilize the situation in the town. As he watched, it became apparent that they would succeed, but the cost would be unbearably large. Corpses littered the streets and rivers of blood ran from the devastated hamlet. A Faunus wearing the armor of the White Fang approached him tentatively from behind.

"Sir, shall we leave?" She asked softly.

"...In a moment. These hunters look to actually be making it through. I'd rather not have any survivors."

He raised a hand, eyes closed. Dust swirled from the canisters at his belt, and a half dozen glyphs formed around him. The dust evaporated and crackled as he drew on its strength, the glyphs spinning violently. Dark sand began to swirl within them, developing into recognizable shapes. A few minutes later, six massive Ursa rose as the glyphs faded away. To the trained eye, they resembled Grimm with years and years of experience, survival and hunting. With a faint gesture from their summoner, the Grimm raced towards the exhausted hunters who had relief painted on their faces as their foes seemed to have been eliminated. That expression rapidly changed to hopelessness as the Ursa closed on them.

The man turned to leave. There was little doubt in his mind how this was about to end. The White Fang soldier at his side followed. After a moment's hesitation, she spoke again.

"Fourth village this month, sir. If they weren't alarmed before, they definitely are now."

He sighed. "Fair enough, I guess. We couldn't be unnoticed indefinitely. For what it's worth, they don't know who we are. Yet."

"Ozpin and the others have spoken with the Vale council. They're recalling and contracting various hunters and huntresses. Putting together task forces and teams to investigate and contain this sudden rash of Grimm activity."

"Well, this will make our job harder. We need to hasten our jailbreaks. I need my allies back. Bah, I needed them back years ago, but we've been making do. We need to push now."

"If you think we're ready. We do that, and the full might of our enemies will come crashing into us."

His eyes narrowed, filling with anger. "We will not be defeated. Not again. We're holding all the cards, but it's time to show our hand, and get this game started."

"We were holding all the cards last time too."

"You needn't remind me. But moving on, these task forces. Anything of particular note?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes. Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren. Reconstituted as a team."

"Lovely news," he grimaced.

"...There's more. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long. Reconstituted for this."

"Fuck. Ozpin suspects, he has to. You just don't drag some of the world's best hunters and huntresses to the same one place just for a moderate increase in Grimm activity."

"More than moderate…"

He waved his hand. "You know what I mean. One of those two sets would have been enough, but this… this is worrying. They were already such a big thorn last time."

"And that was eight and a half years ago. If they were a problem then, they're going to be lethal now."

He shook his head. "We all knew it was going to come to this eventually. This time, this time will be different. Everything is better laid and I shall hide in the shadows no longer. No, we all fight this time, and we do not stop. We just have to fight smarter. And that, that I can do."

"If you say so sir," she said as she pulled out an electronic device and a bunch of files appeared around her as she walked, reading through them.

"This prison break is going to make world news. They're in separate locations too, a lot of them."

He nodded. "Yes, but we need to do them all simultaneously. If we don't, all the ones we don't do first will become unreachable."

He scanned through the files with her carefully as they boarded an airship. "Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai, Vale maximum security prison. Not that far from Beacon, as it were. Roman Torchwick, Vale maximum security prison, but a different one. Adam Taurus, Atlas military facility. And, of course, Cinder Fall, held at Atlas' most significant military stronghold."

He bowed his head. "I want her back, I want them all back. And we will get them. Begin the preparations. I think it's time to declare war."

* * *

Cinder huddled in the corner of her cell, silent as always. She had barely spoken in years, since their plans had been shattered. It all fell apart so suddenly that her partner hadn't even had a chance to help or do anything to contribute. The only benefit, if there was one, was that he was not known. He had slipped under the radar and so, everything was not yet lost. She had gladly taken the fall as the sole mastermind, waiting and praying for her salvation to come. As the years slipped by, she would have been lying if she had said her hope had not begun to wane. Maybe he had given up, broken by the sheer magnitude of their defeat. He had been left with nothing, that she knew. But, they had started with nothing too.

She heard the guards whisper and talk, enough to catch wind of major world events at least. Their conversation had shifted, increasingly in the last few months, to the spike in Grimm activity in the outlying regions of Vale. Villages and hamlets destroyed, strong and capable hunters and huntresses dead. And in that moment, she smiled, because she knew. She whispered to herself softly as she fell asleep, her new nightly reassurance.

"Charon is coming. This isn't over, it's going to start all over again."

* * *

 **Hey, I hope you all enjoy this story! I have it fairly well charted out, and expect it'll be lengthy. But I'd like to stick to as tight an update schedule as life will allow. At least one chapter a week is the goal. If you have to wait longer, then hopefully you'll get a longer section or a particularly important one. It should be a nice ride, and I hope you all have as much fun with it as I do writing it! Enough babbling for me, I'm just going to get on with posting and writing the rest of this :)**


	2. Chapter 1 - Reunion

**Chapter 1 - Reunion**

The aura and dust infused bullet tore through the air, and then through the head of one of the enormous Ursa. The beast was dead instantly, collapsing in a heap. The remaining five perked up at the danger, identifying it and charging. A hail of bullets met them, but these Ursa were not so foolish as a newborn, and negotiated their way through the storm, closing on the target.

Ruby Rose narrowed her eyes and sighed before rising. The anti-material rifle in her hand extended into the scythe of Crescent Rose. She would have to do this the messy way. She activated her semblance and, a moment later, she was gone, a trail of rose petals fluttering in her wake. She dashed to one of the large Grimm in an instant, spinning her weapon in a circular, mid-height slash. It ripped through the stomach of the Ursa as Ruby flipped herself over the beast, running the blade of her scythe straight down its back as she landed. She gracefully turned and shot a bullet through the creature's skull before flipping away. She could see the remaining four Ursa become warier. Intelligence glittered in those blood red eyes as they took up something resembling a formation, covering each other's blind spots. Grimm gained intelligence over the course of their lives and battles. Not many lived long enough or experienced enough to go beyond being savage animals, but these ones were different. Rare as such Grimm were, it had been some time since Ruby had hunted ones such as these. And to find six in one place? She would worry about that later.

She dashed forward with her semblance once more, sweeping Crescent Rose in an upward arc… and found air. She nearly stumbled from surprise but found her footing and easily avoided the retaliatory swipe.

She glared up at the offending Grimm, "you did _not_ just dodge that."

It simply let out a bloodthirsty roar in response. Not sure what she had expected, she pushed her semblance harder. Soon, she was a blur among the beasts, avoiding their assaults and catching them every time she got a chance. It became quickly apparent that this was going to take a while. The Grimm knew they were outmatched, but were making every, increasingly coordinated effort to make her life hell. They were protecting their weak points and swiping unpredictably. And, fast as she was moving, she had to be careful not to accidentally run into a stray blow. She went through the motions of this for a couple more minutes, gradually wearing the Grimm down. She wondered briefly if she should push harder and get this done now, but she decided to take it slower, evaluating her prey. These Ursa were old, or at least they acted like it. And there were six of them. If they had been close enough to attack a village, she tried to decide if it was reasonably possible for no hunters or military or scouts or anyone to have noticed. Old, experienced and dangerous Grimm earned a reputation and were swiftly eliminated. These Ursa seemed to bear the knowledge of surviving many battles. She was jerked from her thoughts as a doubled layered circle of Glyphs surrounded her and the beasts. She dashed past the runes in an instant, practiced motion, leaving the Ursa within. Before they could assess the situation, a shower of razor sharp icicles cut through them, killing them in seconds.

Ruby's mouth quirked upwards as she sheathed Crescent Rose and turned around. "Hi, Weiss, thanks for stealing those."

Her old teammate sheathed Myrtenaster and folded her hands across her chest. "You were being so slow, I got impatient. Has the great Ruby Rose lost her touch?"

"I was thinking," she replied airily.

"While fighting Ursa?" Weiss asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Is there a better time?"

"Dolt."

"Ice Queen. You played to that pretty literally this time."

They stared at each other for a few moments before bursting into smiles and hugging. Ruby was momentarily conscious of Weiss' body pressing up against hers before they separated. She grinned.

"It's good to see you, Weiss, it's been too long."

Weiss smiled back, "yeah, it has. What has it been, a year since we met in person?"

"Something like that, yeah," Ruby nodded.

She studied her old teammate quickly. Weiss really hadn't changed much in the past year. She wore her hair slightly shorter than when she had been at Beacon, and still kept it up in a ponytail during missions and hunts, though she had developed a tendency to wear it open in more casual settings. Her trademark white outfit seemed somewhat more dust infused than last time, offering more protection. And Myrtenaster was, as always, at her side. If Weiss had been pretty at Beacon, she was utterly stunning now. Ruby shoved that thought aside, at least for the moment.

"Didn't know Ozpin was sending you here too," Ruby said as Weiss walked with her towards the ruins of a village in the distance.

"Well he mentioned that he had sent you to investigate this, and I didn't have much else to do, so I thought I would come say hi. And save your butt."

"Stare at it, you mean," Ruby smirked.

"Dream on," Weiss shot back and then paused suddenly as they neared the village. "Fucking hell."

Ruby was quiet for a few moments. "Ozpin didn't let on how bad it was."

"Well, he did only have preliminary reconnaissance. Come on, we should take a closer look."

Huntresses with their experience and caliber were not unused to death. To an extent, they were almost jaded to it. But it was still jolting to see the brutal massacre in the little hamlet. Not one survivor, not even one surviving building. The Grimm had been thorough, taking two hunters down along with the town. Ruby knelt down to examine the corpses and grimaced.

"Definitely the work of those Ursa back there. Can't say I'm terribly surprised…"

"There's more though," Weiss said as she knelt beside Ruby. "Some of these wounds were not made by Ursa, they were fighting other Grimm too. Probably killed them, given that there's no more around."

"Full scale attack then? Including six really old, really skilled and really pissed off Ursa."

"We are definitely asking Ozpin about those."

Ruby nodded. They sat there, sharing a few moments of silence for the tragedy around them. Weiss spoke eventually, voice quiet.

"Fourth big Grimm attack this month. Something is up."

"You don't say, it's been a very long time since anything like this has happened. Not surprised we got called back here."

Ruby smiled slightly as she stood up. "It'll be nice to work together again. Just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Tell me about it," Weiss muttered, glancing at the devastation around them once more before she and Ruby left to return to Beacon.

Team RWBY had kept in touch since graduation, and met as often as they could. Which turned out to not be very much as the four young huntresses dove into their work, making a name for themselves across Remnant. Although, they'd already done that a little bit with the whole Cinder fiasco. That all seemed so far away now that eight years had passed. They had all changed, going from young teenagers in training, soft and green to full fledged huntresses, experienced and hardened.

But perhaps none of them had changed quite so much as Ruby. She had been a few years younger than the others at Beacon, and had gone through several transformative years there. She wore her hair a little longer now, it fell just past her shoulders, though she still left it open. She had grown significantly taller and filled out in her last spurt. Her fashion sense remained mostly the same, with her black and red outfit, the cloak she would never part with and her white rose emblem. Crescent Rose remained her trademark weapon, albeit a significantly upgraded Crescent Rose. But she was the same person at heart - bubbly, cheerful, sweet and excited. But there was more to it now. Her demeanor had become calm and collected. Mostly. Her fighting style had become increasingly disciplined and precise, tempered by years of training and hunting. She had also developed a sharp, irreverent and sardonic sense of humor accompanied by playfulness and teasing. To the people who knew Summer Rose, there was little doubt that Ruby was her mother's daughter, though she'd inherited an appreciable amount of her father as well.

Members of team RWBY had worked together occasionally on hunts and missions, but they'd never ended up taking on something together since graduation. Honestly, it was just that nothing had come up that required four of Remnant's best and brightest to be brought together. Until now.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss strolled through the streets, heading towards Beacon. They had been lost in their own private thoughts for a time after they left the ruins of the village but dragged themselves back to reality as they entered the city.

"So," Ruby smiled, "excited to see Yang and Blake?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "More excited than I was to see you, that's for sure."

"Please," Ruby scoffed, "you couldn't live without me."

"I managed just fine for a year, thank you very much."

"Probably touched yourself thinking about me," Ruby smirked.

Weiss' cheeks pinked slightly and she silently cursed herself for it. "Stop projecting, Ruby."

"Didn't say I wasn't guilty of it," Ruby whispered to her.

Weiss shoved her playfully. "Still a pervert, I see. What happened to the sweet, innocent Ruby I used to know?"

"You guys happened," Ruby deadpanned.

"Oh, shove it."

They continued to banter as they approached Beacon academy, enjoying each other's company. They entered the courtyard and approached the entrance as Weiss noticed-

"YANG!" Ruby shouted, as she dashed and grabbed her sister in a hug, tackling her to the ground.

Weiss smiled and shook her head. Some things never changed.

* * *

Charon passed complicated mechanical devices across the table. The only thing apparent about them was that they were filled with dust. Neo grabbed a few with a grin, slipping them into her bag. Emilia looked at them somewhat apprehensively, before taking the rest.

"Just throw them like a bomb, right?" She asked as she ran her hand absentmindedly across one of her antlers, an old nervous habit.

Charon nodded. "Don't worry, I've prepared these carefully. Heaven knows, it's practically taken me a year. They'll work and they're easy to use, and you're going to need them."

Emilia took a deep breath. "It's finally time, isn't it?"

Neo smiled playfully, "about time, I say. Any longer in prison and they'll forget how to fight."

Charon sighed. "You do make a good point, mind you. They've been on ice for nearly eight years now. You have weapons for them, but don't rely on them. They're going to be rusty, it's going to take a long time to get our old allies back to their capable selves."

Neo giggled, "don't worry, relying on Torchwick isn't something I did very much. It was the other way, you know."

He gave her a wry smile before his face straightened again. "Alright, this is it. Neo, you're getting Roman, Emilia is getting Mercury and Emerald and what's left of her White Fang associates will get Adam. I'll get Cinder myself."

They both nodded.

"We've worked long and hard to get our inside people, so this is our only real shot. Do not fuck this up," Charon continued. "You will _wait_ for me to begin the assault on the main Atlas military compound. You will _wait_ a little longer until an appreciable number of resources have been diverted to help with the crisis. Then you will begin. You should have an easier time than me anyway. You're well aware of the escape plans and arrangements."

He ran his head through his hair. Neo smiled, "don't worry, Charon. We've been over this a thousand times. We know what to do."

Emilia gave him a reassuring smile. "She has a point. Don't worry, it'll be fine."

He sighs, "Fair enough. Alright, time to split up and get to work. Brief your people, Emilia. We'll meet back here. This is our one surprise attack. Once this is over, we're back to the same old fight, with every resource they can muster hounding us."

"We'll make it count," Emilia said. "They won't know what hit them."

She saluted and moved away, heading off to brief her soldiers. Neo gave him a playful bow before skipping away. Charon sat a little while longer, opening a case by his side and examining the white glove that lay within it, marked with a stylized, red eye.

"Soon, Cinder, very soon."


	3. Chapter 2 - Rupture

**Chapter 2 - Rupture**

The members of the erstwhile team RWBY sat around Ozpin's desk. It was a strangely nostalgic feeling, given how long it had been since they had all been together in that place. Ruby had been more than thrilled to see her former teammates and despite the gravity of the situation, she found it hard to suppress some enthusiasm at the prospect of all of them working together again. The mood at the moment was serious though, as they discussed the events of the past month and what Ruby and Weiss had found at the village.

"They were really old Ursa, it was obvious from the way they fought," Ruby said as Weiss nodded in agreement.

Ozpin furrowed his brow, "that is… unusual."

"How were you not aware of Grimm this powerful lurking so close to human settlements?" Blake asked.

He sighed. "That's what worries me, there was no way we could have not been aware. Especially since reconnaissance efforts across Vale have been increased significantly since these attacks began."

Weiss frowned, "well, clearly they managed to remain hidden somehow. Grimm aren't really known for being sneaky though… especially not Ursa."

"Well, guess we can all agree something's fishy," Yang said.

"You think something intelligent is behind this, don't you?" Ruby asked, leaning forward, eyes narrowed slightly at Ozpin.

He nodded, "it's hard to see it otherwise, Ruby. These Grimm attacks are too… thorough and coordinated. For this many attacks to leave no eyewitnesses, to overcome highly competent hunters, for Grimm of such strength to have escaped notice for this long? It simply is not likely. So, yes, I do suspect there is an intelligence at work here. Someone is attacking Vale with Grimm."

"Uhh, last I checked, Cinder's still locked up," Yang said. "Please don't tell me there's more psychopaths like her around. I don't think the planet could deal with two Cinders."

"It may have to, at this rate," Blake murmured. "Either the Grimm spontaneously grew highly intelligent and organized, or someone's behind this. We all know which one we'd bet on."

"Well, I guess the only question then is how we proceed from here," Weiss said.

Ozpin leaned back in his chair. "That's one of the big problems, we don't really know where to go from here. We've scoured the countryside, hidden places, even Cinder's old bases and found nothing. Our antagonizers conceal themselves and their tracks well."

"Why don't you show us a map and the areas you've looked at in depth," Ruby shrugged. "We could see if there's anything you missed or might be worth looking at."

"Well, there would certainly be no harm in it," Ozpin replied. "Also, keep yourselves available at short notice. There will always be a transport ship waiting for you at Beacon. We will call on you if any other attacks take place."

* * *

Charon struggled against his restraints lightly. Finding them more than satisfactory, he cast his head down as the transport began to descend. He glanced briefly at the two soldiers next to him who nodded. For now, he was just a prisoner, a leftover White Fang terrorist being transported to an Atlas military facility to await trial. His 'captors' had been bought years ago. Sleeper agents, waiting for the right moment. They would get him in and get him the few things he needed. From there, it was up to him.

The Bullhead neared the landing pad and finished its descent. The facility's compound was fairly large but the layout was simple enough. One end of the facility consisted of hangars and landing pads and runways. The central region was dominated by the administrative buildings and the detention facility. The armory and the troop barracks were located at the other end. It was heavily secured though, and close to unassailable from the outside by virtue of its fortified walls and automated defenses. Not to mention the large number of robotic sentries and soldiers stationed there. From the inside, though? It was far, far more vulnerable from there. The main door of the Bullhead opened and the soldiers shoved him down the ramp. He played his part well enough, silently but reluctantly passing through security checks. He let them take the knife that he had hidden on his person when they found it. Eventually, the checks were finished and his clothes were swapped out for regular prison clothes. His arresting officers checked him into the system with a false set of identification before escorting him into the main prison building.

They traveled some distance down the main hallway before one of the soldiers with him swiped open the door to a maintenance room. He shoved open the door and yanked Charon inside, the other soldier following, quickly shutting the door behind them. They removed Charon's restraints as he straightened himself.

"You're sure this is fine?" Charon hissed. "I'm positive we were caught doing that by a few security cameras."

"Don't worry, the person monitoring them this shift is one of us," one of the soldiers, named Villiers, murmured in response. "Ben, watch this door. Anyone comes in… Well, bash them in the head or taze them or something, I guess."

Ben nodded dutifully and took up a safe position from which he could see the door. The room itself was small, with several racks and cupboards filled with tools and a ladder that led down to a lower level. Charon glanced around briefly.

"Down this way," Villiers whispered. "We really do not have long in a place like this."

Charon followed the soldier into the lower floor of the facility. There was a network of hallways that seemed to grant access to a number of critical components of the facility that may need repair. Villiers quickly negotiated the passages, stopping at one of the doors.

"This leads to one of the power supply lines. We mess it up and it'll turn things off for a bit, although mind you reserve power will come on pretty quick. We have five, maybe ten minutes tops."

"You know the way to the cell?" Charon asked.

"Yeah, but it ain't lightly guarded, and we couldn't exactly get everyone in this place to be working for us."

"Leave that to me, you have the supplies I asked for?"

He nodded. "Aye, here you go. Two medium sized knives, as many dust canisters as I could reasonably sneak around with and a small set of explosives. You fight with knives?"

Charon laughed and shook his head as they entered the power room. "Oh, heavens no, those are for Cinder. She probably won't be terribly much help, but she should be able to hold her own to an extent. Where's the dust kept at this facility?"

"Armory, I know the way, though it's a bit of a walk from the cell. How _do_ you intend to get us out of here?"

"Don't worry, just stick to what we discussed. We kill the power now, you take me to the cell. I'll conjure a distraction for the facility and a way through any security we run into. Then we break for the armory. Once we're there, I'll stir up enough of a storm that we should be able to slip out easily."

"We cause a stir, and reinforcements will pour in from across Atlas, and probably elsewhere considering who we're breaking out," Villiers muttered.

"Then we'd best stop wasting time and be fast. Now, plant the explosives, but wait to trigger them."

Villiers nodded and started planting the explosives around the room. Charon moved a safe distance away and raised his hands and the dust swirled from the containers as complex glyphs appeared around him. There wasn't quite as much as he had hoped for. Which meant he would have to take the summoning slowly. As much as his nervousness grew with every passing second, there was little choice. A distraction of insufficient scale would peter out too quickly. Almost ten minutes passed, Villiers arrived next to him and was fidgeting increasingly more.

"Come _on_ ," he hissed. "We're going to be found."

"Fine," Charon muttered. This would have to do. "Blow the power."

Villiers took a deep breath and pressed the detonator in his hand, covering his ears. The explosion was deafening and the world shook around them. Charon barely managed to keep his concentration. The lighting immediately switched to red emergency lights. Most of the facility's electronic surveillance and automated defences would be offline for a short period of time. He let the power in his glyphs loose as Grimm appeared around him. Villiers yelped and scrambled back as a half dozen King Taijitu burst into existence, tearing through the roof and slithering into the upper floors and surface levels. Charon could already hear the panic. He released the remainder of the glyphs, summoning four highly capable Beowolves around them.

"Save your questions, Villiers, let's just go. These things will clear the way for us."

The soldier shook his head, cursing under his breath, but ran, leading the way. They picked up Ben on the way out, leaving him with no time to question and just a brief order to not worry about the accompanying Grimm. The chaos became truly apparent when they emerged back onto the surface level. Soldiers and android robots were rapidly organizing to help stop the rampaging Grimm. Villiers and Ben shot any Atlas troops they saw with no hesitation, the Beowolves cleaving through a couple of squads, having taken them by surprise. Charon distastefully grabbed a discarded rifle and followed his escort as they blazed a trail of death through the prison block.

The checkpoints leading to maximum security had long since been decimated by one of the King Taijitu. They tore past those, getting a brief view of the battle. Charon knew he had conjured a potent set of the serpentine Grimm, but three had already fallen. It had barely been minutes. He cursed as they pressed their pace, the Beowolves leading, slaughtering everything in their way. They eventually turned into a hallway filled with soldiers who had taken up fortified positions behind cover. Securing Cinder's cell had apparently been a priority. Ben tossed a grenade down the passage, the Beowolves charging in after the explosion. In the subsequent battle they lost all of their Grimm escort and Villiers took a stray bullet, but nothing lethal. Charon took a deep breath, the path was clear.

Villiers tugged free his last explosive, destroying the cell door in front of him. Charon suddenly slowed his frenetic pace. He walked slowly into the room, finding Cinder rising to meet him with a smile. A grin crossed his face as he gave her a quick hug.

"Took your time, didn't you?" Cinder whispered.

"Came as soon as I could, I promise. But we're not out of this yet. We have to _go_. Now."

She nodded and emerged from the cell as Charon tossed her the pair of knives. She inclined her head gratefully. Charon turned back to Villiers and Ben.

"To the armory, fast. How long do we have?"

"Maybe five minutes till power and automatic defenses come up. We can get to the armory in a couple, but how are we going to get out? This place is big and on really high alert now."

"How soon will reinforcements be here in?"

"We should have a couple of hours, I think. There hasn't been much reason to be on high alert and they'll need to organize. Although, hunter teams from Vale, Mistral and Atlas could be here in an hour to an hour and a half. Depending on how fast they move."

Cinder looked at Charon, "we'll be out before that, right?"

He shook his head grimly. "We'll see, there may be too much security, it isn't safe. The Grimm will be subdued soon."

"Did you rescue me just to get us all killed? You're smarter than that."

"Hope you're not too rusty, Cinder. We get to the armory and we dig in. There's dust there, so much dust. I'll make this a prison break to remember. We should be out just as the first set of reinforcements begin to come in."

"I see," Cinder nodded. "More extreme than I would have gone with, but let's just go."

With that they moved towards the armory. Charon knew word would have spread by now, his other teams would have been alerted. Hopefully their jobs would end up easier than his.

* * *

"See anything?" Ruby asked, yawning slightly.

"Nothing big they missed," Blake replied, shaking her head.

They were poring over a map of Vale, looking for something that stuck out. Ozpin had left a little while ago to take an urgent call. The door to his office suddenly swung open as he returned, walking quickly and purposefully. His voice was frank.

"There's been an attack on an Atlas military facility. The one holding Cinder."

Every member of team RWBY was up in an instant.

Weiss grimaced. "Well, there's our lead. We're going, right?"

"Your transport is waiting," Ozpin nodded. "We can have you there in an hour, maybe under if the pilot presses for time. Try not to let her escape… if she hasn't already."

They nodded, rushing towards the elevator to depart.

"Eight and a half years," Yang muttered, "is a long bloody time to wait. I honestly thought our problems with this woman were over."

Ozpin watched the elevator doors close and turned to make a few more calls. Before he could get to it, more urgent calls were coming in. Breaches at two Vale prisons and another Atlas prison. He closed his eyes, thinking of the best way he could contribute to contain this crisis. It would seem their hidden enemy had made the first move.

* * *

Cinder looked at the devastation around her with a smile. Charon's abilities at summoning had not diminished in the least, if anything they had improved significantly. With this much dust at his disposal, he had summoned a veritable legion of Grimm. Creeps, Goliaths, Ursa, Beowolves, Nevermore, King Taijitu… Anything he could think of. They were surrounded in glyphs that were spewing more and more of the beasts. Cinder could also seem him losing control of the vast majority of the creatures, leaving them to their own destructive devices. She and the two soldiers accompanying them had been forced into killing several of the Grimm in self defense. She could also see that Charon was exhausted. It had been nearly half an hour and he looked ready to collapse. But he had done it, he had opened a way for them.

"I can see transports on the horizon," Villiers muttered. "We'd best get out of here fast."

"Charon, I need you to take control of your Nevermore again, send them to harry the ships," Cinder said in a soothing voice, placing an arm on Charon's shoulder. He seemed to barely register her, lost in a mad trance. But acted on her words anyway. Eventually he stopped, collapsing to the floor, glyphs dissipating.

"I'm… done…" He muttered.

"You did perfectly," Cinder murmured. "You made us our way out. Come, let's go."

"Clean up… the loose ends…" Charon whispered.

Cinder smirked and spun around, hurling her knives through the air. They ripped straight into the necks of Ben and Villiers who had been expecting nothing. She then grabbed Charon and ran, supporting part of his weight. She couldn't help but laugh. Eight and a half years in a cage. But now she was finally going to run free of that place. And better yet, she had left it burning and inundated in Grimm.

* * *

The door to the Bullhead flipped open and Ruby leaned out, gripping the rim tightly. She narrowed her eyes, trying to keep them open as her face was battered by cold air. She could see the military compound now. She pulled herself back into the ship.

"It's covered in Grimm," she said.

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked, her eyebrows raised.

"You heard me," Ruby replied. "The on facility soldiers seem to be doing a fine job of containing it but a helping hand certainly isn't going to hurt."

"How did Grimm get into the base?" Blake asked, pulling out Gambol Shroud and readying herself.

"That's my point," Weiss said as she checked Myrtenaster. "The compound is heavily walled and defended by a number of automatic defenses along with the soldiers and robots on site. There is no way a Grimm even made it to the wall."

"The wall wasn't breached. At least, it didn't look like it," Ruby said quietly.

Yang gave her an incredulous look. "You sure, sis? I don't think the Grimm spontaneously teleported and tunneled in…"

"We can figure this out later," Blake interjected. "When the Grimm are all dead."

The rest of them nodded in agreement and double checked their weapons as the pilot's door slipped open. He leaned back from his seat, looking troubled.

"Two Nevermore, coming straight for us."

"Keep going, we'll deal with the problem," Ruby replied. "You'll also probably have a hard time landing so just get us close and a bit lower and then get out of range of the Grimm."

The pilot nodded and continued on, with the Nevermore approaching. Blake flipped open the door to the Bullhead and waited as the distance closed. She suddenly leapt straight out, throwing out Gambol Shroud and firing its pistol, using the momentum to clamber on top of the transport. She steeled herself against the heavy wind and ran forward, jumping from the ship towards the two winged Grimm. She rained bullets down on one of the Nevermore as she descended, before switching to Gambol Shroud's red dust cartridge. She proceeded to activate her semblance, sending a fiery shadow hurtling towards the Grimm. It exploded on contact, and Blake landed on the Nevermore a moment later, cleaving through its skull with her blade before hopping from the corpse to deal with the other beast.

Yang stared from inside the transport. "Showoff," she muttered.

Ruby smiled and stood up, "well, can't get shown up then, can we? We're low enough, let's go."

Ruby and Weiss then hopped off the ship, falling towards the compound below. Ruby shifted Crescent Rose to its sniper rifle arrangement, launching a series of bullets as Weiss generated a sequence of glyphs - keeping them steady despite the fall. The projectiles passed through the runic circles, shattering into a hundred icy pieces, raining down upon a group of Grimm in one section of the base. Weiss then summoned another series of glyphs, catching her and Ruby to slow their descent before throwing out another pair. One caught Blake who had just finished with the second Nevermore and the other was for Yang who was also careening downwards. They all landed gracefully within the premises, though Grimm were already approaching the newcomers, albeit somewhat warily.

Yang immediately dashed forward, angling a vicious punch towards a Beowolf. Instead her punch connected with a spinning Boarbatusk that rolled past, sending the blow and Yang somewhat off kilter and straight into an Ursa swipe that sent her careening across the floor. Growling, she stood up again, eyes turning red.

"That was impressive coordination for Grimm," Blake said quietly, raising her weapons.

"It's just like at the village. These things are experienced hunters, and they're smart," Ruby added.

"I'm fairly certain there aren't this many old Grimm on the entire continent," Weiss said. "Something really isn't right, but we can worry about that later."

Ruby took a deep breath and smirked slightly, activating her semblance. "Don't worry, we still got this."

She dashed forward, straight into the group of Grimm, extending Crescent Rose. Weiss raised Myrtenaster, creating time glyphs beneath Yang and Blake, lending them incredibly speed as they dashed after Ruby. Weiss herself stepped back, switching to Myrtenaster's red dust cartridge and sending waves of fire blossoming towards the beasts. Ruby slipped through a group of Beowolves, cutting them down, and flipped out of the way of a Goliath that Yang landed on and brutally pummeled into the ground. Blake and her shadow were making quick work of a King Taijitu as a pair of Boarbatusks dashed towards her. Before Ruby could shout a warning, the ground beneath the Grimm turned to ice, sending them sliding off in other directions. Ruby flipped back to where Weiss was, giving her a smile as she switched her weapon back to its rifle form. Weiss raised a network of Glyphs in front of her again. Ruby took the time to shout a quick warning before firing a hail of dust infused bullets. Yang and Blake dashed away as the glyph network turned the bullets into a veritable storm, annihilating what was left of the Grimm.

"Yep," Ruby nodded. "Still got it."

"We're not done yet," Blake said. "We need to find Cinder and finish cleaning this place up."

Taking a brief moment to compose themselves, they launched themselves at another group of Grimm.

* * *

An atmosphere of relative calm had descended upon the compound. The Grimm had been dealt with and their corpses had already vanished. Military companies had arrived from various parts of Atlas and were now surveying and assessing the damage. The attack had been moderately costly. The staff onsite had reacted admirably, but many soldiers had lost their lives and a lot of infrastructure would need rebuilding. This was not unsurprising since the Grimm had somehow attacked from _inside_ the facility - something no one had thought needed a contingency plan. Ruby considered this as she approached one of the Atlas captains. Blake was searching the surrounding countryside, having left as soon as they discovered Cinder was gone from her cell. Weiss and Yang were surveying damage elsewhere, trying to figure out what exactly had happened.

"Hey, you okay to answer a couple of questions?" Ruby asked gently as she neared the captain. He turned to her and saluted lightly.

"Of course, it's the least I can do for your help back there. You saved a lot of good men," he replied.

"Just doing our job. But, if I may ask, what do you remember happening today?"

He took a deep breath, "I'll tell you what I told my superior. The day was proceeding normally. Then the facility suddenly lost power after a large explosion from the lower floors. Before we could mobilize a response team to investigate, several King Taijitu tore free from the level below. They took us all by surprise, and caused a lot of trouble before we subdued them. By the time I got coherent reports about what was going on, Cinder was already gone from her cell. Then there were Grimm pouring from the direction of the armory. So, so many… it was like they were spontaneously appearing. After that, it was too much chaos, in which Cinder probably slipped out. And then you people showed up near the tail end of the battle and helped us mop up."

"Anything else?" Ruby asked, her thoughts racing.

"Yeah, I still need to double check this, but I have some reports that all the dust in the armory is gone. Nothing else, just the dust, and there was a lot of it at that."

"Thanks a lot, come find me if anything else occurs to you," Ruby said appreciatively as she turned and headed towards the armory. She found Weiss and Yang already at the damaged structure.

"All the dust is gone?" Ruby asked, as she approached.

"Already heard, huh? Yeah, it's all gone," Yang replied. "And judging by the number of containers there were, I doubt Cinder carried it away on her back."

"The Grimm were supposedly coming from here," Weiss added. "Which makes no sense. There are no tunnels, no passages that we can see. Although, we didn't find passages or tunnels anywhere else either."

"Not just from here, the first set of Grimm came from the detention facility," Ruby murmured.

"Something on your mind, sis?" Yang asked, brow furrowing.

"Humor me for a second," Ruby said with a strangely twisted half smile. "So, the point here seems to have been to break Cinder out. Suppose our mystery terrorist infiltrates the facility, inside people or something. They start in the detention block, disable power and create a distraction. They rescue Cinder but the place is locked down too tight to leave. So they need a bigger distraction…"

"Ruby, that theory is fine if your definition of distraction isn't 'making Grimm appear'," Weiss sighed.

"You can summon things…" Ruby said softly.

"You _have_ to be joking," Weiss said incredulously. "I mean, yes, but for one, our semblance is hereditary. And when we summon things… well, you've seen how they look. Dust and aura infused, silvery blue. These were real Grimm."

"I think Ruby's trying to say that, what if, someone's semblance…" Yang started, shaking her head.

"...Summons Grimm," Weiss finished the thought. "I don't think that's even possible."

"Well, Ozpin didn't think it was possible for Cinder to do the things she did last time, like stealing part of the Fall Maiden's power. And she would have stolen the others' power too if she had the chance," Ruby said with a frown.

"What bothers me," Weiss said, rubbing her forehead, "is that I can't think of a better explanation at the moment. We should keep looking though, maybe we will find a tunnel or some sort of answer."

"It does explain why all the dust is gone, if someone needed it to power their ability" Yang offered.

"Well, we can look for a more conventional answer, and we probably should," Ruby said. "But I just don't want to dismiss the outlandish theory either. If we really are dealing with someone who can… well, summon Grimm… then we're better off knowing sooner rather than later."

They split up again to search for any more evidence. Blake returned a while later, informing them that she could not find Cinder, although she did find a trail leading from the compound, which likely belonged to the terrorist. But it was somewhat old and vanished some distance away, indicating that Cinder had probably been picked up by some associates. The point being, she was in the wind now.

Blake was standing in a circle with Yang and Weiss, discussing Ruby's seemingly crazy idea and more conventional possibilities. Their leader returned a short time later, just having got off the phone with Ozpin to give him an update.

"Well, I've got bad news, even more bad news, and worse news," Ruby said flatly.

"What now?" Blake groaned.

"Bad news: Torchwick's escaped, initial reports seem to indicate Neopolitan being involved. Even more bad news: Emerald and Mercury were busted out too. Worse news: Adam too."

They were deathly silent for a few moments.

"We just got royally fucked," Yang muttered.

"We should… we should probably get back to Beacon to discuss this with Ozpin and the others," Weiss said, composing herself. "I'm sure the Atlas military will provide us with a report when they finish their investigation."

"Yeah, I agree," Ruby replied. "Ozpin's already sending to have the Maidens moved to secure locations. He's pretty sure Cinder's not giving up on that particular plan."

They didn't say much else as they made the return trip to Beacon. But their thoughts were all drifting to the same thing. A war that they thought was over was starting up all over again. The peace of the last eight years was not going to last much longer.

* * *

 **Longish update this time. Hope you guys enjoyed it!**


	4. Chapter 3 - Anticipation

**Chapter 3 - Anticipation**

The trip back to Beacon had been somber, with only a few words exchanged. Even arriving at the academy, Ruby could feel the news hanging over the place like a storm cloud. There was no way that breakouts of such high profile criminals could have been kept under wraps. They headed immediately towards Ozpin's office. It occurred to Ruby that none of them had had a moment of rest in a while. Exhaustion was bound to start setting in eventually, but maybe they could take a little break after this meeting to recuperate.

Ozpin himself looked somewhat harried when the entered, which was an exceptionally rare sight. He nodded to them as Ruby and Weiss took seats opposite him. Blake opted to simply lean against a wall, Yang paced restlessly.

"I know that today hasn't gone particularly well," Ozpin said carefully, earning a small snort from Yang. "But we need to keep our wits about us and not panic."

"Would be easier if we had any idea where to find them so we could put an end to this," Yang muttered.

"I imagine you're already making sure all of Cinder's old hideouts are scouted again?" Weiss asked. "Not that she would be that foolish."

"We will check, just to be sure. But I agree that we're unlikely to find anything," Ozpin replied. "For the moment, though, our first courses of action should be defensive. At least, until we know more."

"So… the maidens?" Ruby said softly.

"Already moved to secure locations and kept under guard," he said. "Miss Nikos was not particularly pleased about being put on ice, but there is little choice at the moment."

"You know, Cinder and her friends have been imprisoned for eight and a half years," Blake said. "I doubt they're in any state to try some sort of daring attack, they must be rusty. We probably have some time."

"You are probably right, but this still leaves the matter of Cinder's mystery associate," Ozpin said quietly. "Someone who seemed capable of sneaking a small army of Grimm into one of the more secure places on Remnant."

"Ruby had a theory about that, but it was a little crazy…" Yang said slowly.

"A lot of crazy, you mean?" Weiss sighed.

"Enlighten me anyway," Ozpin said. "Maybe we could use an out of the box idea at the moment."

They filled him in quickly. His face remained impassive through the explanation.

"It is… difficult to digest," he said eventually. "I've never heard of any semblance of the kind you describe. But, then again, I had never heard of strange gloves that could steal the power of Maidens by invoking some sort of Grimm insect."

"You're suggesting that Cinder got the gloves from this associate of hers," Weiss said.

"Yes, I do think that's likely," Ozpin replied. "In all of what happened eight and a half years ago, the nature and origin of Cinder's gloves was never clear, and neither she nor her partners showed any abilities or technology capable of producing such objects. I do not know if this mystery partner of hers can summon Grimm or not, but he has some abilities that we do not understand, given what he's done. And is a possible and likely source for those strange gloves."

"It makes sense," Blake said. "But that means our number one priority has to be finding this person. Or at least figuring out who they are and what they're capable of."

"We are not completely at a loss in that department, thankfully," Ozpin said as he pulled up a video file. "People investigating Cinder's breakout managed to pull out some footage from before the attack began."

The video showed one of the hallways of the prison facility. Two Atlas military personnel could be seen escorting a prisoner. They stopped partway down the passage, however, and slipped into a side door, taking the captive with them. The video was unremarkable for the next ten or so minutes before suddenly cutting off.

"It cuts off when the explosives took out the power line" Ozpin explained.

"That wouldn't happen to be a maintenance door, would it?" Weiss asked.

"It is, in fact," Ozpin nodded.

"Who's the prisoner, then? He's almost certainly involved, if not the person we're looking for," Blake said.

"He was registered on the system with a set of identification that seems to be fabricated, if the initial analysis is correct," he said.

"So, two crooked guards and a mystery infiltrator," Yang said, finally taking a seat. "Did anyone see them during the attack?"

"It is hard to say, given the degree of the chaos at the facility. However, a few eyewitnesses do seem to recall spotting a man with similar appearance heading towards the armory with Cinder in tow, though they are uncertain. The two military staff in question were found dead in the armory, with medium size knives thrust through their throats."

"Cinder," Ruby said immediately, eyes hardening.

"You are probably correct on that, Miss Rose," Ozpin said. "And both our mystery man and Cinder are nowhere to be found. We will, of course, begin a full search for both of them, but for the moment, we can probably operate under the assumption that this is the unknown associate we are looking for. At least, until any evidence to the contrary presents itself."

"Doesn't help tell us who he is, though," Yang sighed.

"Actually, I may have something of an idea there," Ozpin replied. "During the whole affair involving Cinder, we of course began to investigate her past in extensive detail. The process was meant to continue even after her capture, but it slowed down a great deal and began to stall. It seemed far less urgent with her and her partners behind bars and the White Fang dissolved."

"Why do people get lazy in times of peace," Blake muttered, shaking her head. "Anyway, I assume you want to continue that line of inquiry in more detail."

"A specific part of it, actually. You see, before she recruited Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black to her cause, her past is relatively clear of any blatant transgressions. However, two years before she found Miss Sustrai, Cinder traveled to a small town in Vacuo. She spent an appreciable amount of time there before returning to Vale. We were never able to properly ascertain what she wanted there, if it was even anything noteworthy."

"But now you think she met this associate of hers there," Weiss said. "Well, it's possible. It's also the only lead we have right now…"

"Whether she met him by chance or whether she knew exactly who she was looking for remains up in the air, but the latter is far more likely given what we know of Cinder's nature," Ozpin continued. "I would like two of you to go to Vacuo and see what you can find. Hopefully, the trail will not have gone stone cold after a decade. Miss Belladonna, it occurs to me that you are particularly skilled at collecting information, and following up on people."

"Sure, I'll do what I can, just give me the details," Blake nodded. "I'll take Yang with me, she's good at getting things out of people sometimes. Although, she has a tendency to blow up bars in the process."

Yang shrugged guiltily but didn't deny it. "Sure, I'll go with Blake. But are we going to even find anything after this long?"

"I think we can," Blake replied. "If this was some small criminal, we might have trouble. But all of Remnant recognizes Cinder's face. You're far more likely to remember some woman you saw a decade ago if it turns out she's one of the world's most infamous terrorists."

"Well, I wish you two luck," Ozpin said. "You can leave tomorrow, I'll arrange transportation. I'd like to have you gone as soon as possible and back soon as well. We will need you here sometime soon."

"We'll make it as quick as we can," Blake nodded.

"Anything you need me and Weiss to do?" Ruby asked.

"I need you two here, for a number of reasons," Ozpin replied. "For one, we need to start searching Vale for signs of our escaped criminals. There's also no guarantee the Grimm attacks we've been subjected to in the past month will stop."

"And lastly," he continued with a slight smile, "try to visit Miss Nikos. Her former teammates are keeping her company, but some other visitors would probably be welcome."

"She's frustrated, I imagine," Ruby said. "She's never been one to just sit back when things go bad, she's also really good in a fight."

"I sympathize with her situation," Ozpin said, "but we cannot risk it quite yet. If she gets caught out, we may not get lucky. It would be a disaster if Cinder stole all of the Fall Maiden's power, probably killing Miss Nikos in the process."

"It's best she keeps low for now," Weiss said. "Well, give me and Ruby a call if anything comes up, we'll stay available."

"Of course, thank you. Now, why don't you four get some rest, you've earned it. I also need to speak to General Ironwood, Glynda and Qrow."

"That oldie's going to pick up his scythe for battle again?" Yang asked with something of a smirk. "Hope he doesn't sprain anything."

"Wait till he hears you said that," Ruby murmured with a slight smile.

"He's still good enough in a fight," Ozpin said amicably. "And very clever and resourceful. I'll be in touch with you, and I'll let you two know about your travel details, Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao-Long."

* * *

"Sooo… What do you want to do?" Ruby asked as she left the main Beacon building with Weiss. Yang and Blake had taken their leave for the moment to prepare for their trip to Vacuo.

"Just something to unwind a little," Weiss sighed. "It's been a pretty crazy day."

"Well, there's a new bakery in town," Ruby smiled. "I hear they have amazing cookies…"

Weiss laughed lightly. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Alright, it sounds good."

A few minutes later they found themselves seated inside the bakery, a plate of cookies between them. The shop itself was a relatively small affair run by an entrepreneurial young man. And the confections were, true to Ruby's word, delicious. Weiss was sipping a coffee while Ruby nursed a hot chocolate, grabbing some of the cookies to eat.

"Some things really never change," Weiss said. "But if you don't slow down, there won't be any for me."

"Don't worry," Ruby smiled. "I'd never eat your half."

"Liar," Weiss scoffed, and was then briefly silent. "It's strangely nice right now, just sitting here like this."

"It's alright, I think we needed it," Ruby said. "So, now that we finally get a little time to catch up… how've things been for the past year?"

"Not much different than I told you when we spoke on the phone," Weiss shrugged. "Hunting, doing my job. It was fairly quiet, honestly."

"Yeah, I'll never complain about it being too quiet again," Ruby muttered. "How's your dad doing?"

"Well, we fight less," Weiss said somewhat brightly.

"Well, he did start treating Faunus a lot better."

"That's… a work in progress, but we're definitely getting somewhere," Weiss nodded. "Anything special on your end?"

"Not really, but I got to see my dad and Uncle Qrow more since work wasn't so heavy," Ruby replied. "I'll probably get to see them again soon, but it's not exactly the best circumstances. How's Winter?"

"She's doing great, ranked up a lot. Although… she did send me a message a bit earlier about how her life's going to be hell for a little while after the attacks on the Atlas military facilities today."

"I'm not surprised to hear that. Speaking of hell, we should probably visit Pyrrha and Jaune tomorrow. She must be going a little stir crazy already."

"Imagine how you'd feel if you learnt that Cinder got out and the only thing you were allowed to do was sit at home and wait," Weiss said. "I understand why Ozpin is doing it, but it would still be awful to deal with."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now. Anyway, we can cheer her up tomorrow. The rest of today is for relaxation!"

"We're going to be asleep as soon as we get back," Weiss smiled. "You look exhausted."

"So do you."

Weiss nodded and took a sip of her coffee, but out of the corner of her eye caught Ruby snatching the last cookie from the plate quickly. She narrowed her eyes.

"I saw that," she said.

"You saw nothing!" Ruby protested, leaning back with an innocent look in her eyes.

"You've always been a cookie thief, for all the time I've known you. Now give it back."

Ruby sighed and handed over the cookie with a defeated look. "You know me too well. Split it half and half?"

"Alright," Weiss said, laughing softly.

Some time later, Ruby and Weiss had returned to the accommodations that they had been provided at Beacon. They were sharing a room, which they had no complaints with. Ruby was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, Weiss was sitting on the other bed.

"Hey, Ruby? Remember that huge food fight from our first year?"

"How could I forget," Ruby laughed. "We totally won too, all thanks to me!"

"Well, look at the glory hog," Weiss smiled.

"Nah," Ruby said, turning over. "Where would I be without you guys?"

"Where would any of us be without the others? Best team ever and all," Weiss replied.

"Well, would you look at that, the ice queen's melted," Ruby smirked slightly.

Weiss just smiled and was quiet for a little while. "I miss those days sometimes. They're so far away now, and everything's so different. We're so different."

"I mean, we're kinda different," Ruby said. "I took after Uncle Qrow a bit, I guess. He was always part of my inspiration."

"You didn't extend it to all the drinking, at least," Weiss smiled.

"Hey," Ruby grinned, "I only take the good stuff. But otherwise, I guess we just learnt to deal with what it really means to be huntresses. Beacon was something, but hunting Grimm in the real world was completely different. I don't think any of us ever really understood… I mean, we read about it but we never really _felt_ what the Grimm could do. All the destruction, all the death."

"That was it, wasn't it?" Weiss sighed. "All the innocent days went away when we saw our first corpses. I was sick for a day."

"Yeah, I don't think any aspiring hunter or huntress takes that well the first time," Ruby replied. "But we're still the same people, sort of. We just grew up a bit and dealt with real life."

"You do still love cookies," Weiss smiled. "It is nice to be working together again, all of us."

"Pity Blake and Yang need to separate from us already," Ruby sighed.

"They'll be back soon, hopefully having found something. I'm sure they want to be here too, and part of the fight."

"Yeah. It's back to the grind for us though, from tomorrow. We should really try to sort out Cinder fast this time, no need for things to get as out of hand as last time."

Weiss nodded, "definitely. But we should get some rest for now. At least we got a little break, it's nice to reminisce sometimes."

"Yeah, Beacon was great, I think about our time here a lot," Ruby smiled. "Anyway, goodnight, Weiss, sleep well."

"Goodnight Ruby, sweet dreams."

* * *

Emerald skidded across the floor and growled, struggling back to her feet but stumbling.

"See," Neo said, with an infuriating smirk, folding up her umbrella. "This is why Charon says you guys can't just run out on a rampage. You kind of suck right now."

"You might want to shut up before I make you," Emerald muttered, knowing it was an empty threat. Neo just giggled.

"Enough," Cinder drawled from the sidelines. "I think the point's been made. We will need some time to get back in shape after being caged up for eight years."

"After that, we can get back to work," Charon said, standing up and stretching. "They think the White Fang completely fell apart, but several of its members just went underground or became sleeper cells. Now that Adam is back, we might be able to persuade them to come back to the fold."

"They'll listen," Adam said flatly, examining his weapon.

"And after that, Charon? We go back to Maiden hunting, I hope," Cinder said softly.

"Of course," he nodded with a smile. "I mean, you're in charge of this operation, Cinder. I'm just here to help us get what we want."

Cinder stood up and walked past him, pausing next to him as she whispered in his ear.

"Is that why you still won't tell me what you intend to do after we steal the Maidens' power even though you'll tell me that you have _something_ planned?"

He closed his eyes, trying to suppress a shudder. "It'll just be better if I show you, honestly. It's complicated to explain, but it has to do with what we discussed right at the start, when we first met. Trust me on this one, Cinder, I'll deliver Remnant into our hands yet."

Cinder smiled and walked away. "Of course, Charon, I know you'd _never_ betray me."

* * *

 **Well, we get to relax the pace of the story a little now, after the pretty frantic first chapters. Also, I really appreciate the feedback I've gotten, thank you! Hope you continue to enjoy the story!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Wasteland

**Chapter 4 - Wasteland**

Yang sighed, placing her hands behind her head. "This is a pretty small town."

"Yeah, no kidding," Blake muttered. "Well, that's good for us. Might make this an everyone knows everyone sort of place."

"I guess. So, where do we start miss super spy?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"Save it," Blake said with a slight smile. "Let's just get to our hotel for now. We can try the local bar tonight. You can put your talents to use and maybe we'll find something. No blowing it up though."

"But that's my talent…"

Blake just shook her head and started walking, Yang following with a grin. They had said their goodbyes to Ruby and Weiss earlier that morning before departing for Vacuo. The trip had been uneventful and they had arrived at their destination as the sun was beginning to set. The town itself was, as Yang had noted, rather small. There were a few residential blocks, one main street with shops, a few restaurants and a bar. And not very much else besides a town hall and library. The nearest other town was many miles away, and there wasn't much else around besides forested areas. The small city had a slightly larger than normal security detail due to its vulnerability to Grimm attacks.

"Yang, do you see something that doesn't fit?" Blake asked as they approached the hotel.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I just can't see what Cinder would be doing in a place like this. We don't know that much about her, but we know her ambitions. And this? This seems so far away from anything she would be interested in," Blake said.

"You have a point," Yang replied. "Which means she probably didn't come here just to sightsee."

"It also means she wouldn't have come here unless there was something specific she wanted. Even if she didn't meet her associate here, she was here with an agenda in mind. And we can at least figure out what that is, ideally."

They checked into their hotel, which was basic but satisfactory. After taking a brief time to freshen up, they were ready to leave again. Yang offered her arm with a smile.

"Ready to hit the town, Blakey?"

"There's not much town to hit, but sure," Blake replied, rolling her eyes slightly, but taking the arm anyway.

They made their way to the bar, which was a small and fairly seedy affair, but reasonably full. There was loud music, a makeshift dance floor, a handful of tables and the actual bar itself. Yang nodded to Blake as they separated. Yang made her way to the bar, looking around for someone who looked like a regular. She spotted an older man sitting alone, nursing a whisky. She walked up and slid into the seat beside him.

"Can I buy you a drink?" She asked with a smile.

His face slightly incredulous, he looked her over once. "Uh, shouldn't I be asking that question? Besides, what do you want with an old geezer like me?"

She shrugged. "I'm new here, just visiting. I was looking for someone who'd know this town inside out."

"So you came to the old man sitting alone? Really flattering, thanks," he said with a slight smile.

"Hey, I'm sure you looked dashing in your prime," Yang smiled. "I just have a couple of questions, that's all."

"What is this, a TV show?" He laughed. "Are you a secret agent or something?"

Yang smiled sweetly and tilted her head, not in the mood for being subtle. She pulled out her huntress ID and let him have a look, putting a finger to her lips. His eyes widened slightly.

"A full fledged huntress," he muttered. "Come to the little town of Parchai… We haven't had Grimm trouble in some time, though."

"It's not about the Grimm," she replied, stowing away her ID. "I'm looking for someone, actually. Do you know this man?"

She pulled out a photo of Cinder's associate, and slid it across the bar. He looked at it, and narrowed his eyes before leaning back, thinking.

"You know, he looks really familiar…"

"Recognize him?" Yang asked, somewhat eagerly.

"If I do, it's not from anytime recently," he sighed. "Hey, Ron!"

The bartender turned to look at them, "what, Anthony?"

"Come here for a minute."

Ron grumbled slightly before walking over, giving Yang a charming smile before fixing his gaze on Anthony. "What?"

"You recognize this guy?" Anthony asked, showing him the photograph.

"Y'know, he looks familiar," the bartender murmured.

"That's what I said."

"He your friend or something?" Ron asked Yang.

She shrugged. "Friend of a friend, I'm looking for him."

"Whatever, it's your business," the bartender said. "I'm happy enough to help out a pretty lady. I've a feeling we used to see him around town a long time ago…"

"Yeah! Damn, Ron, don't you remember?" Anthony said suddenly. "He used to come by town once in a way. His mom used to come with him when he was a kid, though she stopped showing up eventually."

"Wait, you mean the woman Apollo swore he had sex with before she showed up with a kid nine months later?" Ron asked, memory seemingly sparked. "He even confronted her about it when he was a bit drunk. All he got was a punch in the face and she said she'd never seen him before. That's when everybody was whispering about who they were."

"Uh, mind filling me in on all this gossip?" Yang asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Old story," the bartender replied. "Every town's got urban legends, you know? We've got our own too. See, Parchai is pretty isolated, as you may have noticed. We've got a bit of a forest on the east. If you go past that, you'll run into a small set of mountains… well, more like hills really. No one goes there much, the land around is extremely barren and arid. People say there may have been a river there once, but it dried up long ago."

"But there's still the remains of some old villages and towns there that were abandoned a long time ago," Anthony continued, picking up the story. "Archaeologists used to look around once, but they eventually got bored with nothing much to find. Anyway, the legend's just that some people still live there, in that wasteland, managing off the land and occasionally coming into town to trade."

"So this woman you-" Yang started but was cut off.

"We ain't done quite yet, young miss," Ron said, his eyes twinkling. "We don't get to tell stories very often, so indulge some old folk. See, there's more to the legend. They say it's only ever two people that live there, one parent and one child. And when the child comes of age or the parent passes on, the kid will come into town to do more than just trade. If it's a woman, they find some guy to knock up, so they can get pregnant and have a kid 'fore taking them back to the wasteland to raise them there. If it's a guy, well, some say they kidnap a woman to impregnate, killing her when she's given birth and dealt with the child's early months. Some say they settle down in town until she's had the kid and they're a bit older. Then she'll vanish and he'll take the kid and disappear."

"You're saying that this woman and the kid were part of this family that sounds really creepy?" Yang asked.

"Well, that was the whispering," Anthony chuckled. "Really, though, they probably just came here from the town over since the kid liked the library here and they liked the dust shop too."

"The dust shop?" Yang inquired, curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, they'd come, do some trading. Pawn of some stuff, sometimes pick up odd jobs to earn a bit of extra cash to pad their wallets. And then they'd buy a bunch of different types of dust before they left, nobody was really positive why. But hey, they were harmless."

"And the boy that came with this woman, he's the one from this picture?" Yang pressed.

"I think so," Anthony replied, scratching his head. "He continued coming by, after his dear mother passed on. Same habits too. He looks a lot older in this picture, but yeah it's probably him. Charon, I think his name was?"

"And you haven't seen him in a long time? Yang asked.

"Nah, if you're really looking for him, try the next town along. That's probably where he lives and he probably just found a better dust shop and library and stopped visiting Parchai. Dunno what you want with him, but that's none of my business."

"Mind if I ask a couple more things?" Yang smiled.

"There better be a big tip in it," the bartender grinned. "But sure, we'll humor you."

"Recognize this person," Yang said with a slight laugh, as she slid over a picture of Cinder.

"Who doesn't?" Anthony said. "Crazy terrorist bitch, she just broke out too."

"Did she ever come to Parchai?" Yang asked. "Even if it was a long time ago?"

"Y'know, you're not the first person to ask about that," the bartender said. "Some Atlas people came by years ago. Yeah, Cinder was here, some ten years ago. Didn't seem like a terrorist then or anything. Miss, who exactly are you?"

Yang sighed and showed him her ID. "Just keep it quiet, okay?" Yang muttered. "Don't gossip about it, please."

"My lips are sealed, huntress," Ron replied.

"What did Cinder do here?"

"Not much, honestly," Anthony shrugged. "She stayed here, bought supplies to visit the wasteland and went there daily for a couple weeks or so and then we never saw her again. Didn't even think twice about her until she became famous a few years later. Or infamous, if you will."

"Thanks a lot," Yang smiled and slid a small bunch of notes across the table. "Buy Anthony his next three rounds and take the rest as a tip for yourself."

She nodded to their profuse thanks before wandering off to find Blake. Her partner extricated herself from a conversation as she noticed Yang.

"Hey, find anything?" Blake asked.

"Yep," Yang grinned triumphantly. "You?"

"Plenty," Blake smiled.

"Does it have to with a legend about a really creepy family and Cinder visiting the arid wasteland east of here?"

"Uh… No to the first bit?" Blake said with a raised eyebrow. "Yes to the second though."

Yang smirked and filled her in quickly.

"Charon, you say," Blake murmured. "Well, it's a name. You think the legend's real?"

"At least part of it, probably. You think Cinder went looking for these people?"

"Almost certainly. Looks like she might have found them too."

"So, mystery solved?" Yang asked with a smile.

"If you mean we've solved nothing, then yes," Blake laughed slightly, shaking her head. "The Atlas soldiers who came here investigated the barrens, found nothing but ruined buildings. We also have no idea why Cinder wanted to meet this Charon or what's special about him... or his family, if you will."

"We're going trekking in the desert, aren't we?" Yang groaned.

"Yeah, we are," Blake smiled. "We'll go tomorrow, and hopefully find something the soldiers missed. You did great, Yang, I'm impressed."

"That means I deserve a reward," Yang declared.

"You have something in mind?" Blake sighed.

"Yep, I want a dance. Come on, Blake, nothing wrong with having fun once in a way."

Before Blake could even consider protesting, Yang had dragged her to the dance floor. They quickly became the center of attention, but Blake barely noticed.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss looked around once more before knocking on the door. Jaune opened it a few moments later, immediately being tackled into a hug.

"Hi Jaune!" Ruby said with a grin.

"Hi Ruby… Hi Weiss…" Jaune said, struggling to breath slightly.

"It's good to see you again," Weiss smiled as they quickly walked inside, shutting the door behind them.

"Yeah, been too long," Jaune said, extricating himself from Ruby. His expression fell for a brief moment. "You weren't followed right?"

"No," Ruby said promptly. "Don't worry, we made sure."

"Alright, good," he breathed, before smiling again. "Anyway, come in, Pyrrha'll be happy to see you. Nora and Ren are out scouting right now."

"You're stuck with your girlfriend, then?" Weiss asked.

"More by choice than force," Jaune smiled. "She'd go crazy if she were stuck here alone."

They moved to the house's living room, where Pyrrha met them. Ruby and Weiss hadn't seen Jaune and Pyrrha in person for almost two years, so the reunion was more than welcome.

"So, how've you two been doing?" Ruby asked after they had all sat down.

"Quite well," Pyrrha smiled. "Well, until yesterday anyway."

"We try to work jobs together or in the same area at least," Jaune said. "That way we get to spend time with each other. How've things been on your end?"

"Business as usual, mostly," Ruby replied. "Just the usual swath of work."

"Same here," Weiss added. "Honestly, this was something of a welcome break when I first heard I'd be getting to work with all of you again. Well, then yesterday happened… How're you holding up Pyrrha?"

"I've been better," she said frankly. "It's not that anything's _wrong_ , I just would rather be out there, helping to find Cinder."

"But, she understands the risks," Jaune interjected. "At least me, Nora and Ren are around to give her company. Ozpin's moving us again in a few days, I don't think we're going to be staying in one place for very long. He seems pretty worried."

"With good reason," Weiss murmured. "Especially since Cinder seems to have some other partner capable of something unnatural."

"What did happen at the prison, yesterday?" Pyrrha asked. "Ozpin only had the time to explain the basics, but he mentioned that you were there."

"Well, we got there a bit late, and we don't have any encouraging news but..." Ruby sighed, "here's what happened."

* * *

"You really think someone _lived_ here?" Yang asked as she trudged across the arid, parched ground, Blake next to her. They could see the remains of a settlement in the distance, shadowed by a small mountain.

"There's a forest relatively nearby, and Parchai," Blake shrugged. "It wouldn't be a comfortable life, but I could see a small family making it by."

"Well, I guess we'll find out," Yang said as they approached the ruins.

The journey had been largely uneventful, though they'd make sure to bring water, food and other basic supplies with them. The forest had been a pleasant walk. The wasteland was less so. It was hot, and the vast open area offered no shelter from the beating sun. The only vegetation consisted of cactii and small, thorny bushes. They eventually made it to what was once a small village, but was now in a dilapidated state and thoroughly abandoned.

"This place is _old_ ," Blake muttered, looking at the architecture and peeking into some of the houses.

Yang glanced into a couple of buildings but saw nothing of interest. Just the rotted remains of some furniture, and a lot of dirt. After an uneventful period of time, Yang heard Blake calling for her. She approached another dwelling, though this one looked slightly more intact. The inside still looked like a wreck, however. There was a table and a couple of chairs that were barely holding together along with two sets of cupboards whose wood had long since rotted and a mattress that was in pieces.

"Did you find something?"

"Yeah," Blake nodded. "It doesn't look like much, but there's stuff in these rotted cupboards. It's old, but nothing compared to the rest of this place. There's utensils, containers, some books, though I can't make out what they are anymore. Insects got to them before we did."

"If someone was living here, it was years ago," Yang said.

"Which does line up, doesn't it?" Blake said. "Cinder was here ten years ago. If Charon was here, and he left with her, this would make sense."

"It could just be squatters," Yang shrugged. "Although, there are a lot of coincidences lining up about this whole affair."

"Too many," Blake muttered. "Take a look around, here and the nearby houses. Maybe we missed something important."

"The surrounding ones too?"

"Hey, if Charon lived here, he had the place to himself."

"Fair enough," Yang sighed.

Another half hour passed as they scoured every nook and cranny of the ruined settlement. Eventually, Yang heard Blake call out again, and walked over to find her.

"Hidden panel in one of the drawers here," Blake grinned, pulling something free and brushing the dust from it. "It's… a map? Painting? Something in between, looks like."

She dropped it on a table for both of them to examine. It had clearly been important to its owner since it was well framed to preserve it. And it had certainly withstood the ravages of time better than everything else around it. It depicted what looked like a stylized map of the settlement they were in and its immediate surrounds. The only thing that was notably different was that the mountain beyond the village had been painted over with a large symbol. It looked like a black, bird-like creature with two sets of wings, a white head and noticeable red eyes. It appeared reminiscent of something you might find on a coat of arms.

"Those are Grimm colors," Blake said softly.

"Yeah," Yang said, voice also dropping on instinct. "And there's something marked on the mountain too, looks like a cave."

"I think that's what it's supposed to be," Blake agreed. "Although, there's only one way to find out."

"We're going mountain climbing now?"

"Yes, we are. Now, let's get this over with while we have sunlight," Blake smiled, prodding Yang along.

The mountain itself wasn't that large, the bartender hadn't been wrong to call it a set of hills. It was rugged, but they were trained huntresses and easily made their way up, Blake leading. After they were about three quarters of the way up, Blake shouted down to Yang.

"I think I see something, it's barely noticeable, but it's there."

They finished making their way up, pausing next to the entrance and brushing themselves off. Yang grabbed a flashlight and clicked it on, waving it around the inside of the cave. It was quite small and completely empty.

"Well, that's just great," Yang muttered, stepping inside. "Waste of time- Oof!"

The ground beneath Yang's feet had suddenly given way as the loose packed dirt collapsed, carrying her with it.

"Yang!" Blake yelled, running up to the section of the floor that had fallen. She could see Yang several feet down, dusting herself off.

"I'm fine!" Yang shouted up. "But, uh… you should see this, Blake."

Blake hopped down and looked at what Yang was gesturing to. Her eyes widened slightly.

"That's not a natural tunnel," Blake said pointedly. "And the walls are kind of strange… Wait, those are… carvings?"

Yang shone her torch across the walls, sucking in a sharp breath. There was passage in front of them, clearly man made, leading forward. They couldn't see where it ended, it seemed to simply wind into the darkness, angling downwards. And the walls around them were covered in carvings, etched into the stone.

"Looks like human figures..." Yang said quietly, examining the walls.

"And Grimm," Blake said darkly, putting voice to what Yang hadn't wanted to say. "And look at what the humans are holding. These drawings are crude, but those look like fairly primitive spears, bows and swords."

"We haven't used weapons like that in forever," Yang said.

"Well, not since a time in history that we remember nothing from and know next to nothing about," Blake murmured.

"Uh, Blake, where are we?"

"We're about to find out," Blake said. "Let's go, keep your eyes open and watch your step. No telling what we're going to find down here."

* * *

 **Now we can start getting to the meat of the plot, hope you guys like it!**


	6. Chapter 5 - Labyrinth

**Chapter 5 - Labyrinth**

Emerald half walked, half limped her way through the safehouse. Charon had managed to put together a fairly impressive hideout given his dearth of resources. He had picked a location in one of Vale's smaller cities, drawing on some of Roman's old contacts. The building was, on the surface, a fairly dilapidated warehouse. However, gangs had been using a large, hidden basement beneath the warehouse as a place for storing smuggled items. It had doubled as a place for people to lay low. Charon had started out renting the place and slowly just taken over the safehouse. Emerald wasn't sure what he'd paid for the place. It could well have been nothing, Charon had other ways of persuading people.

The network of rooms in the basement had largely been for storage initially, but had now been converted. There was several rooms for them to stay, a kitchen, training areas and a workshop for Charon. The remaining space was still used for storage of what supplies they had available. With Roman free from prison, they had managed to set up a far more stable system for acquiring things they needed, ranging from food to weapons and dust. Neither Charon nor Cinder were at all willing to let any of them leave the safehouse yet. It made sense, given the ferocity with which they were being hunted, but that didn't stop Emerald from going a little stir crazy.

She knocked on Charon's workshop door and then pushed it open when she heard his voice. The room was, as usual, a mess. There were a number of tables, shelves and boxes scattered across the side of the room and one large table in the center. Dust containers were scattered across the main workspace. Charon was sitting at his desk, a glyph hovering in front of him, dust snaking within it. Upon hearing her enter, he looked up briefly before dismissing the glyph, the unused dust falling back to the table.

"Hi, Emerald," he smiled. "You look… not great at all."

"Gee, thanks," she muttered, collapsing into a chair and groaning. "Cinder's been training us so hard, I swear we'll be dead by tomorrow."

"At least Neo's having fun," Charon shrugged with a grin.

Emerald shot him a withering glare, murmuring something about unnecessary sadism. She sighed after a moment and gave him a genuine smile.

"It is good to see you though. And it is good to be free, even if everything hurts."

"I wasn't going to leave you all in prison forever," he replied. "I had hoped it wouldn't have taken so long, but they didn't exactly make it easy for us. Tea? I only have the canned stuff in here, but I suppose I could brew a fresh pot in the kitchen."

"Could I bother you for a fresh cup?" Emerald asked.

"Sure, why not. The canned stuff isn't very good anyway," he said, before leaving the room.

Emerald took the brief absence to stretch herself a little and massage the parts of her body that ached more than others. Cinder had given them a brief break, and Emerald had been more than happy to take the time to escape. Getting to spend some time with Charon was a bonus. She was Cinder's apprentice, but the older woman was harsh on her, and somewhat aloof with all of them. Charon, Emerald had found, was a lot more amicable and probably the person she got along with the best besides Mercury and that was a bit of a love-hate relationship. Charon returned a little later with a pot of tea and two cups, pouring one for Emerald and one for himself before sitting down again.

"So," he asked with an amused smile, "how was jail?"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Emerald said dryly. "Mostly? Really boring."

"I would imagine so. But you might miss boredom soon enough. There's a lot of fighting and danger in our future. One wrong step and we'll all be behind bars again."

"Yeah, I know," she said exasperatedly. "You and Cinder have said that a hundred times, we get it."

He gave her a knowing look. "Listen, we know that you're frustrated. You, Mercury, Roman, Adam. Don't get us wrong, Cinder and I are frustrated too. But patience is worth more, at least for the moment."

"You know, back when we first met you while accompanying Cinder, me and Mercury both thought you were Cinder's boss."

Charon burst out laughing. "Oh, don't tell her that. Especially since it's quite the opposite. She calls the shots, I'm just a trusted advisor."

"How'd you end up working with her anyway?" The thief asked, tilting her head. "I mean, I know a bit about you, but not really that much."

"We met a long time ago," Charon replied, almost wistfully. "It's been more than a decade. She sort of… ran into me. And we got talking. We talked a lot, hours every day for almost a week. She can be persuasive, as you well know. And we both saw some value in a cooperative venture."

"This was in Vacuo, right?"

"I see Cinder's mentioned some details about me," Charon smiled. "Yes, it was. We met in a very empty, very barren wasteland east of a tiny town called Parchai."

"Do you mind if I ask about your family?" Emerald said carefully, not sure if it was a sensitive topic. "Cinder told us a little, and I'm sure you understand if it sounds a little strange…"

Charon leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure it looks that way. My family… my legacy is a complicated thing. But it isn't so miserable as you might think, my mother was an exceptionally kind person."

He smiled gently, closing his eyes for a brief moment. Emerald stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"She raised me well, and considering that I was a child living in unusually harsh conditions, I didn't want for that much. Don't get me wrong, she was strict, and there was a lot for me to learn and master. But that wasn't so bad, she instilled in me the voracious hunger to know more. And, of course, there was semblance training. A lot of semblance training."

"It is a pretty unique semblance," Emerald ventured.

Charon chuckled. "I'm sure there are more choice words you could use. Grimm summoning. It even sounds terrible to say. The semblance has been called everything you would expect - horrible, dark, evil, abominable, monstrous. But it's _our_ semblance, my family's semblance. And it is our legacy."

"But you've sort of hidden haven't you. Why did you all live out in the middle of nowhere?" Emerald asked softly, and then promptly regretted the stupidity of the question.

Charon simply gave her a patient smile. "We trace our history back to the early days of humanity, before the discovery of dust, or around that time at any rate. When humans took hold of Nature's Wrath, we discovered what our semblance could do. And though we did much for civilization's fight against the Grimm, eventually we faced virtual exile. We could stay and be killed for an unholy and heretical semblance, or we could leave and live away from everything."

His smile slowly darkened. "They said that our bloodline was tainted long ago, that Grimm blood flows in our veins. Blood that twists the sacred semblance of summoning to the horrific thing we wield. But to my family, that power was a part of us, and bitter about our exile, it came to define us. Our exile became tradition, and tradition became law, and soon there was no more purpose to our lives than preserving our semblance, simply for the sake of it."

He then shrugged with a laugh. "That's the legend anyway, one of the many my mother used to tell me. I wouldn't take such things too seriously, stories become warped with time."

"But-"

"Enough story time for now, Emerald," Charon said, cutting her off gently. "Besides, I'm sure Cinder wants you back to training soon. We'll talk more later. In the meantime, good luck!"

Emerald groaned, but knew he was right. She bid him goodbye and left the room, not feeling particularly comforted.

* * *

Yang and Blake progressed through the passageway slowly, examining the walls by torchlight. The images were all similarly themed, crude drawings of humans battling Grimm. The scenes all seemed to flow into one another, creating a vast carving of a massive war. The tunnel had already been longer than either of them had thought possible and continued further into the darkness, angling downwards even more sharply.

"We're going to be below the mountain at this rate," Blake murmured, taking a picture of a particularly detailed wall section.

"Well, I hope you're not claustrophobic," Yang replied, pausing a little way ahead. She shone her torch on what looked like a dead end until Blake noticed the small circular entrance to what looked like a crawlspace hewed into the rock.

They reluctantly dropped to their knees, examining the inside of the small opening.

"Definitely a path," Blake sighed.

"Listen, if there's a cave in, we are one hundred percent dead," Yang said.

"It's lasted this long," Blake shrugged, although she sounded a little uncertain. "Besides, you can punch your way through some rock."

"Let's hope we don't have to test that," Yang replied as she reluctantly entered the crawl space.

The tunnel had just about been made to accommodate human travel, and became even smaller as Yang and Blake moved forward. Eventually, they were forced onto their bellies, dragging themselves through. The atmosphere felt strange and stifled the desire for speech in either of them. Yang wanted to suggest that they turn back since this didn't seem to lead anywhere, but she found herself unable to voice the thought. They were drawn inexorably forward, scraping against the rock. Progress became mechanical and the rhythm hypnotic. They were unsure if they had been traveling for minutes or hours or even days. All notions of time had vanished and they were in no position to reach for their electronic devices to check. All they could do was keep crawling forward, now both possessed of an implacable fear that there was something in the tunnel behind them. This horrific trance was eventually shattered when Yang pulled herself forward… into thin air.

"Fuck!" She yelped, as she crashed onto hard rock, aura thankfully shielding her fall.

Blake slid down the wall and landed next to her, silent for a moment. She slowly checked her phone before speaking, her voice distant. "Yang, it's been three and a half hours."

"Has it?" Yang asked confused. "I… You know, I'm not sure how long that felt like. I really don't like this."

"Well, we've come this far," Blake replied with more confidence than she felt. She shone her torch across their surroundings and froze. "What…?"

They were in a large cavern, probably beneath the mountain itself. Stalactites and stalagmites dotted their surroundings, but what had drawn their attention lay at the far end of the cave. A massive structure dominated the wall, with a large doorway leading to darkness. The building itself was built of a jet black rock that seemed to absorb the light directed at it. Flanking both sides of the door were enormous statues of Nevermore, built in the same black rock, their faces painted over in the appropriate red and white. And everything they could see was merely a gate, the rest of the eldritch structure appeared to have been built into the rock behind.

Yang took a few tentative steps forward and ran her hand over one of the Nevermore statues which was freezing cold to the touch. From here she could see that the doorway was also surrounded in carvings, though the art had become far more distasteful down here. The images exclusively focused on slaughtered humans, being feasted on by the Grimm. And above the gate, occupying the central position, was the symbol of the bird they had seen on the map, carved in exquisite detail and then painted over.

"What is this place?" Yang asked, her breath visible in the cold.

Blake just shook her head. "It looks like… a temple, or a monument, or something…"

"We need to go in, don't we?" Yang muttered.

"We can't really turn back after coming this far. No way this isn't related to Charon or what Cinder came to the wasteland for," Blake replied before stepping through the entrance way.

They emerged into a long hallway, the walls filled with more morbid carvings. Their torches were beginning to feel increasingly useless, the black stone seemed to hungrily devour the light. Dotting the hallway were alcoves with statues of various Grimm beasts, altars before them. Altars that bore ancient, dark stains that looked suspiciously like blood. The temperature within the temple was frigid and the atmosphere uncomfortable. The lifelike effigies of the Grimm seemed eager to burst into life and feed.

"Have you ever read anything about Grimm worship, Blake?" Yang asked slowly.

"Never," Blake replied, shaking her head. "Even the oldest stories we have depict Grimm as the enemies of all humanity. I don't understand this place."

She pulled out her phone to continue taking pictures before her attention snapped to the ceiling.

"I thought I heard something move," Blake said sharply, stowing the phone and pulling out Gambol Shroud.

"You sure you're not just being paranoid?" Yang asked hopefully, taking a sharp intake of breath as she heard skittering from somewhere in the darkness. "Okay, not paranoid. This is fine, we're trained huntresses. It's fine."

"I think there's more than just one thing, Yang," Blake murmured, her ears perked up. She and Yang faced away from each other, their backs almost touching, weapons out.

Yang suddenly yelped as something sticky plopped onto her face from the ceiling. And then she screamed, clawing at it, only to have more of the same substance splatter onto onto her arms, legs and torso. She found herself unable to move her body, her muscles simply would not respond to her. Perfectly conscious, she was a prisoner in her own body, as numbness began to take over. Her aura was vanishing worryingly quickly but she couldn't even open her mouth to scream. Involuntary tears stung her eyes as she saw something descend from the ceiling. It was a beetle like insect, clearly a Grimm by its colors. It hung by a strand of black webbing. It stopped right in front of her face and hissed, it's mouth splitting open, black webbing gurgling forth. And then suddenly Yang could move again. She jerked back immediately with a yelp and swung a blow towards the insect, her eyes blazing red. A bullet from Ember Celica ripped it apart. She stumbled around wide eyed as the numbness slowly vanished. Blake stood behind her, breathing heavily, her right arm stained black. They were surrounded by corpses of more of the insects which were already starting to evaporate.

"I got lucky…" Blake muttered. "Managed to cut through the two on me to get to you…"

"What the _fuck_ was that?" Yang managed eventually, slowly bringing her body under control and wiping her face and eyes.

"I'm… honestly not sure," Blake said, also clearly shaken. "I've never seen Grimm like that. Well, actually, Cinder's glove…"

"Right, right, the glove we didn't really know much about," Yang replied, trying to drag her mind back to the job. "Well, we've never seen them in the wild or even heard about them. Until now, anyway. Um, Blake, did you feel your aura being drained or something?"

"Yeah. I think they were _feeding_ on it or something," Blake said with venom in her voice. "Cinder willingly did this to Amber, to another human being... Anyway, we can talk about that later, not here."

"We should leave, Blake," Yang said flatly, "and come back with help. I don't know what those things are exactly but I couldn't move my body after they spat that stuff at me. If they catch us off guard, we're done."

"Yang," Blake replied, slightly nervously, "if those things follow us into the crawl space, we won't be able to do a thing."

Yang cursed under her breath. "So, now what?"

"I think we need to clear out this temple, and really make sure nothing follows us back."

"You realize that if we make even one tiny mistake, we're dead," Yang breathed. "Those are worse than normal hunting odds."

"Well, I guess we just don't make mistakes then."

"We don't have any signal on our phones down here, do we?" Yang asked hopefully.

"Nope."

"Great… Alright, let's just get this over with."

They inched their way through the temple hallway, jumping at their own shadows and even the smallest noise. They weren't subjected to another ambush, but they did find and kill two more of the insectoid Grimm which had been trailing them. The hall eventually opened out into a small antechamber. There were two more altars on either side of the room. These ones were more ornate, but also stained with some dark liquid that was likely blood. They were placed before larger than life statues of the insects that had been plaguing them.

At the far end of the room was a doorway that was sealed by a large stone slab that looked to be moveable. The wall around the door was covered in writing with one word being significantly larger and forming the centerpiece. Blake quickly snapped pictures of every single inch of the wall, being as methodical as she could.

"I assume you can't read that?" Yang sighed.

"No, but Professor Oobleck might be able to," Blake replied. She then walked up to the stone slab and paused, Yang at her side.

Once again, they felt possessed by a trance and reached out, hands resting on the stone. Neither of them really wanted to move it, if you had asked, but they didn't speak. Silently, the shoved the stone aside and stepped into the room beyond. Before they could question what they had both done, their attention was drawn to the far end of the large chamber.

This was clearly the central, most important room of the temple. A majestic, delicately carved altar dominated the majority of the far wall. And above it was a carving of a Grimm but no species that they recognized. It bore most resemblance to a Nevermore, but with a second set of wings and a fully developed pair of arms. It's appearance also bordered somewhere between being avian and reptilian, lending it a draconic tint. They both heard shuffling from the corner of the room and snapped alert, far past the point of questioning why they were there.

Three Grimm slowly stalked their way into the center of the room. They looked like Beowolves at first glance, but the differences were quickly apparent. They had spines dominating the majority of their back in a manner to similar to a Boarbatusk. The claws on their hands were larger, almost scythe like in shape.

"What are those?" Yang asked as she stepped forward and warily took a combat stance.

"Ask later, kill first, I think," Blake muttered as the Grimm leapt at them.

* * *

It was approaching evening when Weiss returned to her room from a dull and uneventful scouting mission. She found Ruby already there, fiddling with her phone. She looked up with a smile as Weiss closed the door.

"Hey, Weiss! How'd the scouting go?"

"Nothing," Weiss replied, shaking her head. "Wherever Cinder is, she's dug in really deep. Any word from Yang and Blake?"

"That's what I was checking, actually," Ruby replied. "They messaged me last night when they got to Parchai. Then they messaged me even later saying that they'd found something that they were going to check out today. No word since, and it is getting sort of late."

"I'm sure they're fine. This is Yang and Blake we're talking about," Weiss sighed and sat on the bed. "Not much we can do if they aren't answering right now, they might just be busy."

"We need something to distract ourselves," Ruby declared. "Any ideas?"

"Well, these scouting missions are poor exercise," Weiss said with a half smile. "We should spar. I haven't gotten to try you in a year, you know."

"Oh, you are on," Ruby said, eyes narrowing, a smile forming on her face. "I will never pass up an opportunity to beat you. I'm sure one of the practice arenas is free."

"Please, I'm definitely ahead in our score," Weiss replied, folding her arms across her chest. "It's a tie at best."

"Then this can be a tie breaker," Ruby smirked as she got up and stretched, grabbing Crescent Rose.

They made their way to the practice arena and set it up as a blank, empty stage. Before they could even get started, they were starting to attract quite the crowd. It wasn't entirely surprising, they were famous alumni for Beacon, and they had been deeply involved in the mess with Cinder eight years ago. Ruby extended Crescent Rose and grinned.

"Would you look at that, even Oobleck, Port and Goodwitch came to watch. Who knows, maybe Ozpin is too, better put on a good show," she said.

"Well, then, you had best keep up," Weiss smiled, switching to Myrtenaster's ice cartridge.

"Keeping up," Ruby smirked, activating her semblance, "is usually your problem."

Ruby immediately dashed forward, swinging Crescent Rose at mid height. Weiss flashed her blade, turning the ground around her to ice, forcing Ruby to move a little slower to keep her balance. She deflected the scythe but stumbled back a step. Ruby didn't relent for a second, spinning through katas, and leveling blows from every height and angle. She knew that the advantages she had were her speed and that Crescent Rose was a heavy weapon that hit hard. Weiss was, in the end, more technically sound in combat and far more versatile with her glyphs and dust manipulation.

Weiss deflected the blows, barely keeping up but still taking stray hits once in a way. She switched to her rapier's red dust cartridge and spun a wall of fire in front of her, forcing Ruby back and buying herself a little time. She promptly cast a time glyph beneath her feet, speeding up her own movement. She would fall woefully short of Ruby's semblance, but it would narrow the speed gap a little. Before she could contemplate her next move, Ruby was on her again, Crescent Rose flashing. They moved through an intricate and delicate dance in the center of the arena, moving faster than the eye could easily follow. But slowly and steadily, Weiss could feel herself losing ground. She suddenly ducked and rolled beneath a swipe of Crescent Rose, pulling herself extremely close to her opponent. Ruby was extremely dangerous at medium ranges with her weapon and could close gaps easily but a weapon like a scythe had its weaknesses. It was clumsy and difficult to react with at short ranges, which was part of the reason Qrow allowed his scythe to shift into a broadsword.

Weiss smirked and attacked relentlessly, her sword trailing ice, fire and lightning as she pressed forward, Ruby desperately trying to make distance between them. Eventually, Ruby pushed her semblance harder and dashed back, shifting Crescent Rose into its sniper form and firing to force Weiss to stay back. A hail of ice crystals fell to meet her bullets as a volley of fire followed. Ruby dodged out of the way and shifted her weapon back into a scythe, attacking again and forcing Weiss away, getting in a few good hits.

This pattern continued for a long time, Weiss would try to draw close and force Ruby back, clipping her with blows. Ruby would then force Weiss away and attack with her scythe at a more middling distance, giving her the advantage. Eventually, Weiss rolled close to Ruby and switched to her blade's earth cartridge. She had to do something to end this before it went on long enough for Myrtenaster to start running low on dust. Once that happened, her bag of tricks would start emptying and there was no winning from there. She stabbed her sword on the ground, raising a wall of rock around her and Ruby, locking them next to each other in a cage of earth. Ruby's eyes widened and she reached for her semblance to leap free of the prison but Weiss was on her already, not giving her a second. Ruby groaned as she desperately tried to deflect the blows but keeping up with Weiss' rapier at this range with Crescent Rose was next to impossible. It was only a matter of time before her aura fell below the threshold and the the arena signaled the end of the duel. Ruby fell to the ground panting, Weiss just about keeping her feet as cheering erupted around them.

"See," Weiss said, breathing heavily, "I got you. That was really hard though, and really close, you've gotten better in the last year."

"I could say the same," Ruby smiled. "That was a good trick. Don't think it'll work next time though."

"I'll have another one next time," Weiss grinned, "don't worry."

"At least they all had fun," Ruby said, gesturing to the crowd. "Anyway, that was a good workout. Shall we get something to eat and then see if Yang and Blake are done with whatever they were doing?"

"Sounds good," Weiss replied, offering Ruby a hand to help her up.

* * *

"South of Mistral, you say?" Cinder frowned, looking at the map. "I'm familiar with the geography, being a native, but there's nothing there."

"No, no, off the mainland," Charon replied, pointing to the map. "Down there."

"There's nothing there either, Charon," Cinder said.

The two of them were sitting alone Charon's workshop, poring over a map of Remnant and pile of documents. The others at the safehouse were probably all asleep. They kept their voices quiet, not wanting to be overheard.

"There is, trust me," Charon said firmly. "I'll explain in a little. You wanted chaos in the kingdoms, I can give that to you."

"We almost had Vale last time," Cinder murmured.

"I went with your plan last time, and it was a good one. But we need something more extreme, you know that," Charon said softly.

"Fine, I'll humor you, but you need to explain everything," Cinder said as she eyed him carefully.

"Alright, I will, gladly. But first, let's get this out of the way, I still need you to take the Maidens' power. All of it, from all of them."

"That won't be easy, they'll be hidden well. Finding them will be hard enough."

"Well, we take something between a few weeks to a month to get you all back in fighting shape," Charon said. "And then, well, then we need to find someone who can tell us where our prey is hiding."

"Charon, the only people who will know are people who would rather die than spill the secret," Cinder replied flatly. "There won't be any good way to get it out of them. Even tricking them with Emerald's semblance will be difficult since they know all about it."

Charon smiled and drew out a glass case from one of his drawers and placed it on the table. "Don't worry, Cinder, I think they'll talk. Whether they like it or not."

A triumphant expression slowly appeared on Cinder's face as she watched the half dozen Grimm insects crawling around in the glass box, desperate to escape.


	7. Chapter 6 - Primeval Legacy

**Chapter 6 - Primeval Legacy**

The Grimm moved significantly faster than Blake and Yang had anticipated. Yang managed to hit the first one square on with a punch that sent it reeling, but the second was on her a moment later, tackling her onto the stone floor. The third of the beasts ducked past Blake's swing and lashed at her with its claws, which she barely managed to avoid. She struck again, only to have the Grimm catch the blow on one of its arms. It bent over, and a shower of spikes erupted from its back. Blake felt her protective aura being battered under the rain of projectiles. She struggled away from the line of fire and jumped, putting some distance between her and the strange creature.

Yang, meanwhile, was in a battle to get one of the Grimm off of her. It was, as she quickly discovered, strong as it was fast. Her eyes blazing red, she hammered Ember Celica into its upper body. It roared in pain, convulsing slightly, but refusing to budge. It responded by raising its paw and ramming it into Yang's ribs. She gritted her teeth in pain, and hit it back with even more force. It still would not be dislodged and moved its jaws to circle Yang's neck. She grabbed the mouth with her hands, trying to keep it away. She would have yelled for help, but she could see from the corner of her eye that Blake had enough problems of her own.

Blake was now trying to play keep away from two of the Grimm, since the first creature had recovered from the initial assault by Yang. They dashed at her and attacked in tandem, displaying coordination that was frightening. Never before had Blake witnessed this degree of teamwork from Grimm. It mirrored the efficiency with which hunters and huntresses who had been partners for years fought together. She was flipping through Gambol Shroud's dust cartridges quickly, hurling out clones of every variety she could think of. Fire for explosions, ice to slow them down, earth to block their projectiles and violet dust to try and obscure the beasts' line of sight. And yet, they stubbornly worked their way through these obstacles. Every trick, Blake noted, worked once. The first fire clone caught them dead on, the first ice clone trapped the claws of one of the Grimm, the earth clone proved a good distraction and the violet clone confused them. But the second fire clone was dodged and the Grimm pulled back from their swipes to avoid the ice. Blake grimaced, backing off further, the beasts were learning. And they were learning fast.

Yang had eventually managed to get the Grimm off of her, but she could tell, even through her anger, that her aura had been significantly depleted. The beast facing her roared and charged again. Yang gave it a malicious grin and charged straight towards it as well. The swipe to her midsection only grazed her as she slid to avoid it, swinging her fist and connecting with its skull as Ember Celica discharged a dust infused bullet. The Grimm's head separated neatly from its shoulders, spewing black blood through the air. Unfortunately, Yang had no time to celebrate as one of the other two beasts peeled away from Blake and confronted her. She charged it with a yell, swinging her fist at its skull and promptly stumbled as the beast nimbly rolled aside. It took immediate advantage of her momentary lapse and curled into a ball, rolling into her at high velocity and sending her careening across the room into a wall. She growled and got to her feet, enraged. She rushed it again and swore as it effortlessly jumped over her. Yang paused, taking a deep breath to try and relax herself. She knew she was telegraphing her attacks too much, and this was no normal Grimm. She fell into a more formal combat stance as she and the creature circled each other.

Blake had found her life had become significantly easier since one of the Grimm assaulting her had left to deal with Yang. She had hoped Yang would just cut through them, but the demise of its brother seemed to have taught the creature not to fight Yang head on. Blake herself was struggling to find a way to catch the beast off guard. Her clones were no longer exceptionally useful, since the horrific creature had taught itself to work around them. She barely avoided a swipe and swung Gambol Shroud in a vicious counterattack. The Grimm grabbed the blade, growling in pain as the sword embedded itself in the beast's arm. It then tugged with immense strength, dragging Blake towards it. She didn't have time to react as both its claws slammed into her. It struck her again before grabbing her and throwing her brutally against the altar at one end of the room. The moment she crashed against it, Blake felt her aura nearly break. Her eyes widened as she stumbled to her feet. The beast almost seemed to laugh as it approached her, as if it knew the next blow would be fatal. Blake hissed and rushed straight towards it. For once, the creature seemed confused and took a hesitant step back, falling into a defensive stance. Blake flipped over it as soon as she was close enough. The Grimm spun around, coming face to face with a hazy, violent clone that blocked its sight. It immediately backed off and found itself trapped in an ice clone that crystallized behind it. It shrieked in anger and pain as a volley of fire clones connected with it and was then silent as Gambol Shroud slid across its neck.

Yang was infuriated, but she was also worried, and that was a rare thing in a fight. She had managed to avoid significant harm, but she had been unable to strike the Grimm and it was relentlessly chipping away at her aura as though it believed in death by a thousand papercuts. Yang was reminded of her first encounter with Neopolitan where her every attack and blow had been effortlessly read and avoided. But she had never, in all her life, been read by a Grimm in that way. Relief washed over her as she watched Blake rush to help her with the last of the three beasts. The Grimm immediately made as much space as it could between it and its opponents. Yang nodded to Blake and they moved forward, now fighting in unison. The Grimm was forced onto the defensive but it continued to avoid and block every attack before leaping away and crashing into the wall. It dug its scythe like claws into the stone and hung there, discharging a volley of spikes from its back. Yang and Blake had no time to react as the projectiles struck them. Yang yelped as she saw the last of Blake's aura deplete and one of the spikes tear across thigh. Her own aura was all but gone as the Grimm jumped from its vantage point on the wall and slammed into her. Yang made sure it paid the price, slamming Ember Celica into its upper body and discharging a set of bullets. But, at the same time, she felt her aura dissipate entirely and the beast's scythe like claws rake up her right arm.

The Grimm thrashed on the floor, badly injured at this point. Yang stumbled but stayed on her feet, clutching her right arm. Blake limped towards the creature. They attacked it one more time before it could recover, and as half hearted as the effort was, it was enough to put the dying beast out of its misery. A moment later, there was silence and Yang collapsed on the floor, gripping her arm, eyes screwed shut in pain for a second.  
" _FUCK,_ " she hissed. "Blake… You okay Blake?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright," Blake mumbled, settling herself on the floor next to Yang, and examining the gash on her leg. "You?"

"I'll be okay," Yang nodded. "Just a mauled arm, I've had worse…"

"What the hell was that?" Blake asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Three Grimm, _three_ ," Yang replied with a grimace, "and they nearly killed us."

"They fought so intelligently," Blake said softly. "Imagine how old they must have had to be, especially if they were learning things close to instantly."

"I don't want to think about it. I didn't even recognize the species, did you?"

"No," Blake replied, shaking her head. "And that's worrying. Between the insects and these, that's two species of Grimm we don't recognize. They're both terrifying. And they were both buried in this godforsaken temple where people were sacrificed to Grimm statues or something similar."

"Yeah," Yang sighed. "It has not been a good day. Hey, you took pictures of the corpses, right?"

Blake nodded. "I got that out of the way first, we'll need to show this to people."

"If we can get out. I have a fairly useless arm and your leg isn't exactly in the best shape."

"Well, I don't think we have much choice. We're going to have to drag ourselves through that tunnel, uphill mind you, somehow."

"And then we need to get through that entire Wasteland before we can find a hospital," Yang groaned. "Please let there be no more Grimm in this place…"

"I don't think we'd survive any more," Blake murmured as she struggled to her feet. "Let's just take pictures of this place and go. Hanging around here seems like a bad idea."

Blake tore off a piece of her clothing to wrap around her leg tightly, Yang doing the same for her arm. They hurriedly took some more photographs, focusing a little more on the central motif of the four winged Grimm. When they were done, they slowly began to make their way out of the temple, still on the lookout for more threats. As they walked down the main hallway, Yang could feel some sort of strange daze fall over her again. She called out to Blake but her voice felt as though it fell into emptiness. Her world went dark before her eyes suddenly snapped open again. She could feel Blake leaning against her, the world around was silent. Yang could tell that her partner's eyes were also open and they had both woken up lying on the main altar in a heap, facing the relief of the four winged Grimm.

"What the fuck…" Yang said quietly, her voice almost breaking. "We were leaving…"

"Two hours," Blake croaked. "Two hours since we supposedly left this room. It's the middle of the night now."

"So, what do we do? Just try leaving again?" Yang asked, her voice suddenly very small.

"I guess so," Blake murmured still dazed. They got up again, saying no more, still feeling as though they were in half a trance. And neither of them wanted to voice the unspoken fear they shared - that something was stopping them from leaving the temple.

As they reached the hallway and began to walk through it once more, Yang gritted her teeth, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did and they both paused as they left the temple gate behind them.

"...Nothing?" Yang ventured. "So… what happened the first time?"

"I don't know," Blake muttered. "Listen, let's just leave. I don't even want to think right now, this place is freaking me out way too much."

"No kidding," Yang replied, as they tried to clamber their way up to the crawl space that led to freedom. It was difficult, and painful on their injured limbs, but they made eventually made their way up.

The miniscule tunnel was even more unpleasant than the climb up to it, and dragging themselves over rough rock was doing their wounds no favors. Once again, their progress through the tunnel was rhythmic and haunted by thoughts of something following them in darkness. Three terrifying hours later, they eventually pulled themselves free of the cave and into the cool night air.

"Four AM," Blake sighed. "It's been over a day since we were in contact with anyone at Beacon. Let me just send a message saying we'll be back tomorrow and that we're alright."

"Are we alright?" Yang asked quietly. "I don't even really understand what happened. Everything just felt so… _surreal_."

"I don't get it either," Blake replied as she finished sending the message. "Let's just… not talk about it or think about it till we get back."

"Deal."

With that, they began the arduous trek towards Parchai. The night was overcast and dark but the light of the sky's brightest star lingered on them like a nightmarish gaze as they walked away from the mountain.

* * *

When the airship landed at Beacon, the first thing Yang was greeted by was a red blur that crashed into her in a hug. She winced for a second at the pressure on her arm as Ruby looked up at her.

"Hi, Yang, you're finally back. And alright," Ruby said with a sigh of relief. The only messages she had received from Yang and Blake were in the early hours of that morning and they weren't very descriptive beyond stating that the two would be back later that day.

"We were really worried, what-" Weiss started and then noticed the stitches on Blake's leg and the wraps on Yang's arm. "What the hell happened to you too?"

Ruby had by now also noted the wounds and looked at them expectantly, trying to mentally list off things that could actually break through Yang and Blake's auras and then injure them.

"Can we, can we just go see Ozpin together and we'll explain there?" Blake asked quietly, shifting more weight off of her bad leg.

"Uh, sure, guess you guys found _something_ " Ruby replied.

"More than we would ever have bargained for," Yang muttered.

Weiss arched an eyebrow but said nothing as they took the elevator up to Ozpin's office. He had been expecting them, as he ushered them in. His eyes lingered a few moments longer on Blake's limp and Yang gripping her arm as the four huntresses sat down opposite him.

"I think it's best if I just let you tell your story and I'll save my questions till you're done," Ozpin said.

Blake took a deep breath and recounted everything that had happened since they had arrived in Parchai, with Yang occasionally interrupting to tell her side of things or add some extra details. Ruby's eyes slowly widened through the tale, Weiss' face growing increasingly disbelieving. Ozpin's expression remained neutral until they finished. Silence hung in the room for a few minutes.

"Grimm worship?" Ozpin asked softly. "You're sure about this?"

Blake pulled out her phone and put it on the table, flipping through some of the photographs for Ozpin to see. "Honestly, I don't know how else to see this. Those are altars with Grimm statues and they're stained with something that looks an awful lot like blood."

"Well, it is hard to see it as much other than some sort of offering," Ozpin murmured. "I would have had a hard time accepting this if you didn't have so much evidence. I know that much of our ancient history is lost to us, but _this_ …"

"And you think Charon has something to do with this temple, and he's Cinder's mystery associate," Weiss said.

"Again, it makes too much sense," Blake replied softly. "Although, for all we know, Cinder could have just been interested in the temple and found Charon by accident. Or she went looking for him and he showed her that godforsaken place."

"The way you were talking," Ruby said softly, "it's like you were in a trance half the time."

"You're not wrong," Yang sighed, shaking her head. "Honestly, a lot of it is so vague in my mind and huge swaths of time would almost vanish for us down there."

"There is a lot to process here," Ozpin said. "We should probably have a more substantive meeting tomorrow after Professor Oobleck and I look over some of this writing and see if we can make something of it. But before you take your well earned rest for the day, tell me more about these Grimm you encountered. I see these photographs, but the species is indeed unknown, even to me."

"They fought well enough and with enough coordination that they may as well have been human," Blake replied. "They learnt our tactics and strengths and adapted to them on the fly extremely quickly. I've never seen Grimm act like that before."

"Well, ancient Grimm learn from their experiences," Ozpin said thoughtfully. "Nonetheless, these creatures have presumably been buried in that temple for some time. And we don't recognize much about them… this is worrying. And the insectoid Grimm? Anything else on those?"

"Not really," Yang shook her head. "We started killing them too fast to study them after that first run in. All we know is that they eat Aura or something… and they immobilized my entire body. If Blake hadn't managed to stay free, I don't think either of us would have made it."

"Feed on Aura, hm… That almost makes sense on some level, given what Cinder did with them in that glove," Ozpin murmured. "Well, regardless of what happened, the mission was at least a huge success. We have an enormous amount of information here that we will need to make sense of. Thank you, Miss Xiao Long, Miss Belladonna. And I am glad you're both alright. Have those wounds looked at in the infirmary and then get some rest. We will meet tomorrow morning again and figure out our next move."

He quickly flipped through a few more pictures and suddenly paused as he was moving to hand the phone back to Blake. "What is this?"

The four huntresses leaned over to look and each of them froze. It was a picture of Yang lying on a black altar, eyes completely glazed. Her arm injury was the only thing that gave any sort of timeframe to the photo. They could see one of Blake's hand's in the frame, holding Gambol Shroud ceremonially over Yang's heart. Her other hand was presumably holding the phone. The next picture then showed Blake taking a picture of her and Yang both lying on the altar, their eyes equally blank.

"I didn't take those," Blake said in a small voice, almost shaking.

"Blake, that's the altar where we woke up… when we tried to leave…" Yang muttered. "Is this… god, what _happened_ to us?"

Ruby and Weiss both seemed too speechless to say a word. Ozpin was the only person in the room whose breathing hadn't become heavy and uncomfortable.

"Regardless, you _are_ both alright. We will tackle these mysteries tomorrow. For now, get some rest, please. And do not dwell on this overmuch. I am sorry you had to be subjected to… whatever this all is, but we will make sense of it. I promise."

"Thank you," Blake said softly, slowly regaining some composure. "I think some rest would do us some good right now…"

Ozpin watched the four of them leave before he turned to look out of his window. He sat there in silence for a few minutes before making some calls. He would have more visitors shortly, but for now he simply stared into the sky, his thoughts racing.

* * *

 **Chapter's slightly on the shorter end this time, but I didn't want this one to run into the next one too much. Anyway, thank you all once again for all your feedback, and the follows and favorites! It's much appreciated and I hope you enjoy the story!**


	8. Chapter 7 - Memory

**Chapter 7 - Memory**

Charon often found himself thinking on his past. Of quiet nights by the fire when he would speak with his mother. Days were mostly filled with instruction and training for his semblance. Sometimes, they would go to Parchai or one of the larger towns to give Charon an opportunity to socialize, learn more about civilization and access the library. It also gave his mother, Nephthys, a good excuse to restock on Dust. Nights, however, were for his most frank questions, and a time for stories.

"He really hated humans and faunus, you know," Charon said once, looking up from the journal to his mother.

She paused her cooking for a moment to look over at the book. "Oh, that one," she smiled. "Some of our ancestors had less than gentle views about the outside world."

"Do you agree with him?" He asked after a moment, closing the book and putting it aside. They were seated outside one of the houses while Nephthys cooked dinner over a fire.

"Such single minded hatred does nothing good," she sighed, resuming her work. "It's better to try and keep some perspective."

"They did exile us, despite everything we did," Charon muttered. "Even if we did go back now, they'd probably lock us up or kill us."

"Truth be told, we don't know that," she replied, looking up at him. "It's likely, yes. Remember, though, our semblance brings forth the things they fear the most. It is bound to provoke strong reactions."

"I suppose. Do you think we should return to living in civilization?"

"If I did, we already would have," Nephthys said with a sad smile. "But this legacy is not in my hands. It will be with you soon enough, and you will do what you think is right. As your readings must have shown, our predecessors have held a wide variety of views."

"I read about the gloves earlier today…" He said a second later, a somewhat guilty tone in his voice.

"I thought as much," she replied gently. "After all, I just saw which journal you were looking through. He was one of the most bitter of our line. He spent the vast majority of his life designing those fell instruments but he was thankfully far too old to use them when he finished. And the wrong gender, I suppose."

"He really did want to strip the Maidens of all their power, didn't he? What would he have even done with it?"

"I don't think he thought that far ahead. It was a desperate revenge born of decades of brooding. He, more than anything, wanted a daughter. A daughter who could steal the Maidens' gifts and then bring some twisted justice to the world."

"Why did we keep the book?" Charon blurted out, finally asking the question that was truly preying on his mind. "What if someone else wanted to… I don't know, finish what he started…"

"The gloves are not a useless design," Nephthys said, removing the pot from the fire. "What if a Maiden became corrupt, or tried to use her power in a dark way? More pressingly, what if they _all_ became twisted? Charon, our family keeps secrets that humanity has long forgotten. We both know what terrible thing could be accomplished by four ignoble Maidens."

"Is that likely, though…?"

"No, of course not, but it is useful to know of an instrument that could take the powers from a Maiden, if it did become necessary."

"So we would help humanity again, if it came to it?" He asked, somewhat bitterly. "We'd save them and then return to exile or be murdered?"

"I don't know," Nephthys said, looking straight at him. "Charon, everyone in our family is different. We do not brainwash our children. Whoever holds our family's legacy that day shall decide what course to take. Whether we should help civilization is a question for you to answer for yourself, not an answer I can give you."

His thoughts drifted from there to an older memory. He was around thirteen at the time, and he had just returned from a trip with his mother to Parchai. They had settled down in their home, his mother writing in her journal while Charon read for a time. Eventually though, he had voiced something that had been bothering him.

"They were so cruel to that faunus," he had ventured. "I mean, I know the faunus aren't really loved among humans but…"

"But to see it for yourself is different," Nephthys finished softly. "You're right, it's far more painful to witness than to simply read about."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Charon muttered. "They exiled us for helping them, the humans and the faunus fight amongst themselves, the nations have warred, people kill each other, it's all just so horrible."

His mother came to sit beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You are too young to be making such sweeping proclamations. Of course there is darkness in civilization's heart, but there is also warmth and kindness."

She was silent for a moment before she shrugged. "All things considered, Remnant seems a better place than it was twenty years ago, trust me on that. Our position leaves us with a tendency to look down on the outside world, but all I ask is that you keep a nuanced position. What that position is, that is up to you to find. But let it not be plain black or white."

And then his mind slipped again, to the oldest memory that stood out distinctly in his mind. He had been very young, and seated outside with his mother, under the night sky. They had been watching the moon as Nephthys had told him stories. Eventually, they had settled in comfortable silence that his mother had broken.

"Polaris is unnaturally bright today," she had murmured.

"What does that mean?" He asked innocently, looking up at her.

"It means you should be afraid, Charon," she had whispered softly, covering his eyes. "So very afraid…"

"Charon?"

He was jerked from his thoughts by a voice calling his name. He opened his eyes to find Emerald in the workshop, looking at him.

"You there Charon?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I must have drifted off," he replied, smiling slightly.

"Happy dreams?" She smirked.

"I wouldn't quite go that far."

* * *

Yang knew she was in the main chamber of the temple again. The place was unmistakable and unlikely to ever leave her memory. She was prostrated on the ground, her head leaning up to stare at the altar. She could feel several of the insectoid Grimm crawling all over her body, attaching themselves to her with the black webbing. Try as she might, she could not bring herself to move. She wanted to cry out when she felt one of the creatures crawling through her hair, anchoring itself to her head. She lay there in silent agony as her head lifted further up of its own accord. She found herself staring into glowing red eyes. They were undoubtedly the eyes of some large Grimm, but she couldn't tell the species as the creature was hidden in the shadows behind the altar.

And then she was talking, a motion she had no control over. She was speaking a language she didn't recognize, words she didn't understand. It slowly dawned that she wasn't merely speaking but chanting. She was suddenly aware of figures lining both sides of the room, humans clad in dark robes and hoods, their heads bowed solemnly as they looked at her. Her own gaze was still steadily held by the beast at the back of the room. One of the hooded figures walked up to the altar where there was now a prone human figure. For a few moments, Yang thought it was Blake but the appearance of the person shimmered and changed to that of a woman she didn't recognize, clad merely in rags.

Her own mad singing began to build to a crescendo as the hooded figure raised a ceremonial dagger and thrust it down into the heart of the woman on the altar. A single scream and all was silent save for her hymn, which had reached its apex. Blood flowed from the corpse and began to pool on the floor. Her chant finished as the nightmarish Grimm in the shadow moved forward. She was dimly aware of the unfolding of four large wings as a terrible truth hit her. She wasn't in her own body. Whatever she was aware of, it certainly wasn't the body of Yang Xiao-Long.

Yang awoke with a start, safe in her bed at Beacon. She was breathing heavily and sheathed in sweat. Moonlight and starlight trickled faintly through her window as her recollection of the dream began to vanish. She tried to hold on, some instinct telling her that what she had seen was important. But in mere moments, it was gone. Falling asleep again was hard, and she lay there for several hours, a knot of terror in her stomach for some reason she could not place. When the morning light came, Yang awoke again. She was slightly more tired than usual but bore no memory of even having a nightmare.

* * *

Ozpin's office was already fairly full when Ruby and Weiss made their way inside. The headmaster himself was seated behind his desk as usual. Professor Oobleck sat beside him and the table was covered in photographs and sheaves of notes filled with scribbles. Glynda Goodwytch was leaning over one side of the table, examining some of the pictures. Blake and Yang were seated opposite Ozpin, waiting idly. Qrow was also present, leaning against a pillar, Winter sitting beside him.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby smiled, giving him a quick hug before greeting Winter.

Weiss embraced her sister. "Hi, Winter, I didn't know you were coming."

"Well," Winter smiled, "General Ironwood's been busy, so he sent me to fill in."

"What she's trying to say is that she came because old man Qrow is here," Yang smirked slightly.

Winter flushed slightly and looked away. Qrow shrugged, "bonuses never hurt, right? And stop calling me old."

"Gentlemen, ladies," Ozpin interjected gently with a smile. "Reunions are always a pleasant surprise, but we should direct our attention to the matter at hand, I'm afraid."

"That bad, huh?" Qrow asked, taking a small swig from his flask.

"Honestly, it's all quite fascinating but I do admit that it raises more than a few questions, several of which have rather disturbing implications," Professor Oobleck said rapidly. "Even as an archaeologist, I've never seen anything quite like this before."

"On that, we all agree," Glynda sighed, folding her hands. "Nothing here seems familiar to anything we know about."

"We haven't quite spread it around academic circles yet, at Ozpin's request, but I doubt we'd have much luck," Winter said.

"As much as this is quite the find, I think it is best kept hidden for the moment," Ozpin replied. "For now, allow us to explain, and then we can discuss it. I've filled everyone in on what Yang and Blake encountered and experienced."

"Still sorry you had to go through that, kiddo, sounds pretty awful," Qrow grimaced. Winter's expression appeared sympathetic.

"We didn't have very much to go on," Oobleck began, after a moment. "The architecture was entirely alien to our knowledge, making everything about it difficult to place. It does appear to be a temple, but one dedicated to Grimm, which is something else that does not really show up in known history. The only clue we were left with was the writing on the walls that Yang and Blake managed to get photographs of. The language is not a precise match to anything I'm knowledgeable about, though it bears enough similarities to old languages that translation was mostly possible. It may not be a hundred percent accurate, but I think I've managed to get the gist of at least some of this."

There were a few more moments of silence as Oobleck arranged some of his notes and photographs. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"As you can see in this picture, this was the antechamber before the temple's main altar room. It contains two statues of the insectoid Grimm that Yang and Blake described, with sacrificial platforms before them. The door leading to the main altar room has a copious amount of text surrounding it, and I've only translated parts of it so far. My first focus was on the largest engravings that formed the centerpiece. This particularly large word here had us stuck for a while. At the moment, I'm moderately confident in saying that it's probably a proper noun, likely a name. If I were to read it phonetically, it would be pronounced Ileana."

Everyone else in the room looked around at each other briefly. "Doesn't sound familiar at all," Winter said. The others shook their heads or shrugged.

"We didn't think it would be familiar, honestly," Oobleck said. "It wasn't to us either. Anyway, moving on. The words right below the name remain a challenge. The second word is almost certainly 'bane'. The first word is entirely its own special character that I do not recognize and can't find a match for. It seems to read, "Ileana, something's bane', though what the something is remains elusive. The words right beneath that were easily worked through and read 'the first nightmare'. So the phrase above the door was likely intended to say, "Ileana, something's Bane, The First Nightmare'."

"That sounds… pleasant," Yang muttered.

"Well, I mean, it sort of fits the aesthetic of the place," Ruby shrugged, but there was a slight frown on her face. "Uh, do we know who or what Ileana is, though?"

"Well," Ozpin ventured, "given the what we know about the temple…"

"We don't really name Grimm, Oz, it's not something I've ever heard of," Qrow murmured.

"Well, we don't build temples to them either," Glynda replied. "Honestly, the most likely possibility is that it is, in fact, the name of a Grimm."

"What would a Grimm have done to earn a name and temple?" Winter asked, her voice slightly uncertain.

"Well, the carvings around the door provide some hints to that," Ozpin frowned.

"Yes, yes they do," Oobleck said, picking up a different page of notes. "The words immediately surrounding the door appear to all be titles of some sort, honorifics. They all largely fit a similar vein to the ones above the door. A quick summary would include things like, 'Humanity's Reckoning', 'The Final Arbiter', 'Endbringer', 'The Avatar of the Darkness', 'Remnant's Ruin'... It goes on in a similar vein."

"They really did think this thing was a god," Weiss said quietly.

"Not a particularly kind god," Blake added pointedly.

"It sounds like an apocalypse cult of some sort," Glynda said thoughtfully. "As if they were worshiping the end of the world and thought this Ileana would bring it about."

"A special kind of crazy, then," Qrow sighed.

"My initial suspicions align with Glynda's thoughts," Ozpin said. "However, there is a little more. The remaining writing on these walls has not been translated, though it seems to be some sort of story. When we finish with it, it will likely reveal more. Now, the last thing we have comes from the actual altar room. The photograph of this painting, the Grimm with four wings, it has writing beneath it. It was faint and we barely noticed it, but it seems important."

"The first word is Ileana again," Oobleck said, picking up another sheet. "Below it, the words read 'Child of'. What follows is a string of special characters that I haven't made any progress on so far. And then, there's one more phrase. When put all together, it would read 'Ileana, Child of something, The First Grimm'."

There was dumbfounded silence in the room. Eventually, Qrow spoke, after taking a long gulp from his flask.

"Did you just say 'The First Grimm'?" He asked, rubbing his forehead.

"That's correct," Ozpin replied softly. "We have checked the translation several times, we don't think it's wrong."

"The First Grimm… you mean, the first Grimm _ever_?" Weiss asked incredulously.

"That does seem to be what it says at face value," Oobleck replied, his voice troubled. "It could be inaccurate, it is just a carving in a temple after all."

"It may also mean first in a different way," Winter said thoughtfully. "As in, 'first among the Grimm', their leader, or something in that sense."

"Those are all reasonable explanations," Ozpin said. "Or it could mean the very first Grimm to exist. At this moment, it is very hard to tell. Further translation of the text will hopefully yield more answers."

"Uh, well, I don't think any of us has seen a four winged Grimm with a cult around," Ruby said. "So… If it was real, what happened to it?"

"Dead, probably," Qrow replied. "That temple seems pretty ancient, I doubt that Grimm has survived this long. If it did, we'd know about it."

"That, I agree with Qrow on," Ozpin said. "I doubt we need to worry about this Ileana."

"Why do you seem so concerned about this, then?" Winter asked.

"Because, we found out about this temple while we were investigating Cinder's activities in Vacuo," Ozpin replied. "I filled you in briefly about her assumed associate, Charon. What this seems to imply is that Charon knows a great deal more than us about Remnant's ancient history, and about the Grimm. And given his apparent ability to command or summon Grimm, or influence them in some way, he is becoming an increasingly dangerous enemy."

"You want to narrow the information gap," Qrow replied. "Learn more about him and what he's capable of so he doesn't take us by surprise."

Ozpin simply nodded. "We will continue to work on these translations while we scout for Cinder and Charon. Hopefully they will yield more clues to follow up on."

"This still leaves the matter of the unknown Grimm," Glynda said, looking at some of the photographs.

"We're at quite a loss there," Oobleck said. "There are no references to such creatures that we've found and the only gauge we have of their abilities is from Yang and Blake's reports, which leave more questions than answers. We could send a larger investigative party to the temple to see if we can gather more information."

"I really don't recommend that," Blake said quickly, almost sharply.

"I second that," Yang added.

"It is, admittedly, dangerous," Glynda said gently, "but if we send a well equipped team of capable individuals, they should be alright."

"It's not that," Blake murmured. "There's something _wrong_ with that place, I don't know how else to put it."

"Could you elaborate?" Winter asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I'm not really sure what to say," Blake replied, casting her gaze aside. "Time seems to vanish that place, hours suddenly pass with no memory of what happened. I'm sure Ozpin told you about us losing consciousness and those pictures we don't remember taking. Everything there feels surreal, like you're in some sort of perpetual daze. It's just _wrong_."

"I don't know how to put this nicely, but are you sure that isn't just bad memories or paranoia talking?" Qrow asked softly. "It did sound like a pretty traumatic experience."

"That's not it," Yang replied, her voice firm. "It isn't paranoia, and it isn't some case of PTSD. There's just something about that place. Please, trust us on this, you send people there, nothing good is going to happen to them."

"Regardless, we will put the matter aside for the moment," Ozpin said. "I will admit that further investigation of the temple may be our best way forward, but we will not do it rashly or unprepared. For the moment though, I'd like to put this discussion aside temporarily. We can all take some time to think on it and continue talking about it when more of the translation is complete. Right now, we do need to talk about our scouting efforts and how to improve them. Charon and Cinder are too dangerous to leave running loose."

On that, everyone seemed able to agree and the meeting shifted to more practical matters. But everyone's thoughts lingered elsewhere, on the things they had just heard. On the creature named Ileana.

* * *

 **Lore and stuff! Anyway, hope you're all enjoying the story!**


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